Regents Park, London (7253) November 2006

Horse Chest Nut,
Horse chestnuts have lost their leaves early this year, which may have been caused by moths.
Many trees have been infested with the larvae of the horse chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella), a moth that is gradually spreading across the south of England. The trees look in a very poor state but more often than not they will survive.

Flickr Comments | Uploaded on November 10, 2006

Neoslv says: Nice contrast, Tony and very interesting caption.
This larvae is common in the south of England or has been arrive from European continent?. Interesting how a plague can destroys those trees.

stewpic says: Nice shot Tony,lets hope the Horse Chestnut tree survives and does not suffer the near extinction of the Elm Trees through Dutch Elm Disease,I can't imagine a world without Conkers.

Black Dust a.k.a. odonbd says: The cross lines in the sky distract me from the tree for a time. But it's curious how the moths larvae left the tree in such a state.
Beautiful shot, sad background story..

Another Tony says: Hi Neoslv and thanks. We've noticed leaves dying and falling from the Horse chestnut trees earlier than usual over the last few years, and it seems the moth larvae have mainly been the cause. They were first noticed in Wimbledon, a suburb of London in 2002.
- tinyurl.com/yxxhjb -

Another Tony says: Stewart, it's hard to imagine a world without conkers, but so far the the Conker Trees are dealing with infestation which only seems to be affecting the leaves.

Another Tony says: Odon, the planes seem to forever be in the skies above London, I wonder if in 24 years these contrails will have disappeared!?
Many of these magnificent trees now look so forlorn towards the end of summer, with the leaves turning brown, shrivelling and falling.
In some ways these two stories could be linked - through our increasing concern for the eco-system that sustains all life, and the seeming inability of the rich to stop plundering our dwindling resources and beginning to make efforts to create a sustainable way of living - in London there are no human signs of change.

Black Dust a.k.a. odonbd says: It's a problem that no one seems to embrace, solve or even care, not in a serious way. So, if there are no human signs of change, we have to wait for the changes. From the Nature itself. And face it. Soon.

another twig says: If I were a twig on a tree it would be on one of these beasties. Some of my best friends are Horse Chestnuts.
I know that we humans are f*cking with the eco system but the eco system also f*cks with itself ... without human intervention?

Another Tony says: Odon, one of the problems here is that so many of us consume so much more than we need .. and yet this is what we are encouraged to do - to work and shop until we drop. I'm sure many of us feel this is not the way we want to live our lives, and as individuals we feel powerless to change this way of being. But maybe we can begin to Imagine how it could be different and imagine how we could make a sustainable future .. but for now I'm going to have a cup of tea and watch tv.

Another Tony says: Twig, yep, we're all part of the fragile ecosystem, and without corporate intervention ecosystems probably wouldn't have fragmented so spectacularly over the last 100 years. Now we're left with the legacy of this unsustainable economic system with seemingly no place to go .. except to dream - of collecting conkers.

roel1943 says: Very nice picture, in Holland we have the same probleme

Robert-O-Rama says: Very nice capture Tony!

Another Tony says: Hi Roel, thanks .. the horse chestnut leaf miner moth seems to have been spreading through Europe for the last 25 years

Another Tony says: Robert, hi and thank you