Australian gardener calls for help to identify ‘Alien-like’ object growing from tree
An Australian gardener has asked for help identifying a strange ‘nest’ hanging from a eucalyptus tree in their backyard.
‘What grows in my tree? There’s an ugly thing growing in my gum tree. I’m assuming it’s a nest of some kind of insect,” they wrote on Reddit.
“Can anyone tell me what it is and what is likely to happen when it comes out?”
Many Australians had ideas about what it could be. Some said it could be a paper wasp nest. Paper wasps make their nests with a papery substance made from wood fibers mixed with spit.
“Leave them alone, they are super friendly and get along well with people,” one person explained.
‘It looks like it’s a “Ropalidia romandi”, Yellow Paper Wasp, nest. More common in bushland environments, compared to the normal paper wasps typically seen in suburbs,” another added.
An Australian gardener has asked for help identifying a strange ‘nest’ hanging from a eucalyptus tree in their backyard.
A third said: ‘They must be ants or wasps. Don’t you see something coming and going? It looks epic.”
However, others believed it could be a nest for caterpillars.
‘I think it’s a hairy caterpillar’s nest. Depending on the environment, they can build white or darker, almost silky nests,” said one.
‘I could be wrong, but the bag looks more like silk than as hard as wasp nests. We had a lot of them in the trees where we grew up.”
The hairy caterpillars, also called processionary caterpillars, have needle-like hairs that cover the body. These hairs are sharp and break off easily on human skin. They contain an irritating protein that causes a strong allergic reaction in most people.
“DO NOT TOUCH,” said one Australian. The caterpillars inside cause a terrible skin reaction: intense itching and pain. Just leave it alone.’
Dozens of commenters shared jokes about what the strange object could be.
‘Pretty obvious it’s a Coles BBQ chicken. Looks like this will be ready to be picked, bagged and shipped to Coles in about two weeks,” one person wrote.
A second joked: ‘I don’t want to be there when that sucker comes out. Be like a scene from Alien.”
A third added: “Burn it with fire.”