As I mentioned in my previous post I went on a great walk last week on a cycle path that runs alongside a busy main road and farmland. The main reason for this little venture was to investigate the unusual silken webs covering the hawthorn hedgerow between two of the fields near the road, which I had spotted previously from the car window! The phenomenon stretches over at least 7m of the hedgerow creating a ghostly white impression on the landscape; almost like someone got over-excited with some Halloween decorations but at the wrong time of year...
I went there just after it had rained so found the webs covered in glittering water droplets which helpfully added to the magical atmosphere in the images.
Upon arriving I discovered the thousands of tiny architects who had made the giant webs. This shot depicts one of the numerous caterpillars I found on the web. I think this particular species is the ermine moth caterpillar - probably the small ermine moth which often favors hawthorn as it's food source in the first stage of it's life. The silk blanket covering the hedgerow provides dual protection for both the caterpillars themselves and their important food source as they prepare to chrysalis into moths. The caterpillars were very small only about 2cm in size at the most!
In this photograph the silk is so thick that it looks like clingfilm covered the hawthorn leaves! The web is surprisingly strong enough even to deter the majority of birds and other predators. Due to the web providing protection they tend to pupate in the silk as well where they remain safe as they develop into moths.
Their silk made unusual textures which looked fantastic close up with my 90mm macro lens, the complex array of patterns shows how intricate nature can be! I used a wide aperture to get a soft green backdrop to these shots emphasizing the silken patterns in the photographs.
No comments:
Post a Comment