Last modified: July 1, 2022, 11:37 a.m.
A fairly common species throughout Belgium, sometimes a pest in parks and gardens.
Native
In autumn, the small caterpillars form colonies of larvae in trees and bushes constructed from a single leaf wrapped tightly with large amounts of white silk, which make a tough communal web. In spring, they emerge from the cocoon and grow into large caterpillars. By the end of June, the full-grown larvae start to pupate and the imago emerges towards the end of July. The adults come to light.
The adults fly in one generation a year; from late May towards late August.
The larvae live gregariously in webs spun in bushes of Crataegus or Prunus spinosa, at the coast mainly on Hippophae rhamnoides.