EXPERTS have been unable to identify a species of caterpillar that has stripped a Taunton tree of its leaves and left it shrouded in a spider-like web.

Thousands of the creatures have devoured every green morsel of a tree in the grounds of Winchester House, Winchester Street.

Bob Cuthbert has lived in the road for seven years, and told the County Gazette that though the caterpillars return every May this year they have come back with a vengeance.

He said: “It has been the worst it has ever been and it has lasted a lot longer.

“Normally they’re there for eight days, but they’ve been on that tree for three weeks now and they’re still there.

“They’ve eaten all the leaves on the tree, so I don’t know what they’re doing for food now.

“They’ve gone everywhere. They’ve been cramming themselves under the capping on the wall, and they’ve spread into the neighbour’s property and anywhere else they can find.

“We don’t know where they come from or where they go. We never get a problem with moths when they disappear, so what happens to them?”

A hunt on the internet by the County Gazette suggests the creatures may be ermine moth caterpillars.

A spokesman for the Somerset Butterfly Conservation group disagreed, but said he could not name the type of caterpillar.