Imagine my surprise to see this mugho pine with sections of branches with needles missing.
But as you move closer, all of a sudden the pine seems to move. The sawfly larva (not really true caterpillars) are clustered together on the tips of the pine, although usually not right at the tip. When they are disturbed, they seem to rear up on their leggs. But they do this in unison - like a wave at the hockey arena.
These little creatures can chew off many needles from Austrian and Mugho pines in a short time if they are not treated with an insecticide.
a closer look at the larva
Video of Larvae doing the wave
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This weekend, was at the Lilac Festival at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton. Not all the Lilacs were not in full bloom yet, but there were many beautiful blossoms.
Noticed an army of Caterpillars on the trunk of an Oak tree. These are Gypsy Moth Caterpillars. These can be a destructive force - eating the leaves and defoliating many trees. Their populations tends to go in cycles. For several years there may be minimal populations, but then over a few years, the numbers seem to increase until one year there are so many that large mature trees can be defoliated. And there can be many trees in an area that will be affected.
No indications so far if there is any problems in this area but a search on Google news did reveal some spraying was planned in various communities across North America.