I went for my usual walk this morning, accompanied by Saartjie (pronounced Sarkie) the Border Terrier that is almost like another grandchild when we visit Mossel Bay, being the darling of our daughter’s family and right across the road from our house in the golf estate where we are spending the lockdown period.
Saartjie loves a walk around the estate and insists on hugging the perimeter of the fairways which are mostly lined with dense bush – she has power in her little legs that defies belief, dragging me across open stretches to the closest bush, then sniffing and poking her nose into the bush as we walk.
On the way back, passing yet another bush, I spotted out of the corner of my eye a twig that seemed unnaturally hairy and on closer inspection saw it was covered in a layer of small hairy caterpillars – clearly some form of lepidoptera but I have not been able to put a name to it.
They have definitely not heard about the need for social distancing!
Mostly Birding 
Wow..haven`t seen that before..
Really unusual isn’t it – not sure why they do this – there are different but interesting opinions to be found when you google it
What a fascinating find – thank you for sharing it!
I’ve come across something similar on a few occasions – once in Kruger on a game drive if memory serves me – but it remains special
Cool looking little dudes.
Agree! Wish I knew what they morph into – either a moth or butterfly
We have a similar occurrence every year here in the NE US. Sadly, ours totally defoliate one of our shrubs while ignoring everything else.
Caterpillars seem to be very plant specific so tend to ignore all others around them when feeding – it can be frustrating when you have gone to some trouble cultivating shrubs for the garden!