Caterpillar

I found a line of caterpillars walking over some gravel this morning. They are Processionary Catrerpillars (ochrogaster lunifer) which process nose to tail in long lines. This line was approx 6 meters long and contained approx 250 caterpillars. The first extra shows the nose to tail procession. Each caterpillar leaves a silken thread, which can be seen in the main photo. They find a tree, preferably a wattle and climb it to eat the leaves, sometimes the complete crop. Eventually they become, after 8 months, Bag Shelter moths. These moths have no mouth so only stay alive long enough to mate and lay eggs, and so the cycle continues.