Introduction to the photos of larvae in 2007 — page 7

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Introduction to photos of larvae attacking bird cherry trees in 2007

In 2006 I wrote:

At noon on June 12, 2006, I was out walking. Suddenly, I saw something I never seen before in my lifetime. A group of naked bird cherry trees — Prunus padus — (i.e. hägg in Swedish), covered with something white and silky. After a closer look, I saw that there were larvae everywhere. The phenomenon was so exceptional, and interesting, that I took some photos with my digital camera. It was a very warm day, 86°F (30°C).

New larvae attacked the same trees in 2007. The photos taken in 2007 are photographed on June 3–8, 2007. The maximal temperatures on June 3–8, 2007, were 82–86°F (28–30°C).

In 2007 my focus was on the larvae and the bird cherry trees. In the web pages from 2006 you can follow the whole process from larva via pupa to an adult insect, a moth, the Bird-cherry Ermine moth.

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Why the name — bird cherry tree?

The green fruits, that I show in the photo below is the reason, to why the bird cherry tree got its name in English. During the first frosty nights in the fall these fruits become black, and eatable. They taste somewhat like a peach. The birds love them.

In Sweden some people use the mature fruit of the bird cherry tree, it is named häggbär in Swedish. In the northern part of Sweden, these fruits are named the poor man's cherries, fattigmanskörsbär.

A bird cherry tree, can reach a height of circa 15 meters. You can see examples of sizes, and how the trees look after the attack from the larvae. In 2006, the attacked bird cherry trees, redeveloped fresh leaves on July 3, 2006.

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Conny Andersson

Last modified: September 16 2010