The photo(Right) here is the Lacebark(Brachychiton discolor) outside the Nursery. It is right on Lamington National Park Rd, and next to the gate.
It looks bad doesn’t it.
It is almost devoid of leaves and looks like it is on the edge of death.
But it isnt.
It is infested with Brachychiton webbing Caterpillars. Caterpillars have tied up the leaves of the Lacebark and are using them as transition homes.
This makes the tree lose some or all of it’s leaves and look pretty ugly, but it does not hurt the tree. You can see in the second photo, that there is new leaf growth on the end of each branch.
The tree will recover and will have it’s full leaves back within a few weeks.
The damages from these caterpillars is really only visible in young and small trees. In fully grown trees the damage is often barely noticeable.
So don’t worry… your tree will be back, as ours will be.
Come and visit us next month and you will see 🙂
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