Small Eggar

This moth flies very early in the year and the adults are not often recorded; it is far more frequently recorded through its conspicuous larval webs on (almost always, in Somerset ) Blackthorn Prunus spinosa.&nbsp; A moth with a population greatly reduced nationally by destruction and repetitive flailing of hedgerows; Somerset is one of its strongholds.&nbsp; It occurs in a band across the county, absent from west of Taunton/Bridgwater, scarce in the Mendips and northwards, and absent east of Castle Cary/Shepton Mallet, apart from around Frome where another large population in Wiltshire just spills over the border.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Brown, K.&nbsp; (2002). Some notes and observations on the Small Eggar Eriogaster lanestris&nbsp;(L.) (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) in Somerset.&nbsp; Entomologist's Record&nbsp;&nbsp;114: 88-91.

Ground Lackey

Malacosoma castrensis