Eye on Nature

Some fat insects appeared in our porch and laid eggs on a moth cocoon. Neither moth nor eggs seemed to thrive thereafter.

Jane Maxwell

Rosenallis, Co Laois

It is the female vapourer moth, judging by your photograph. She has just emerged from her cocoon, emitted pheromones to attract a male, mated and immediately started laying eggs on the outside of her own cocoon. When she has finished laying eggs the female dies.

I saw photos of a substance like white, frozen candy floss and called frost flowers. Were they a plant or a fungus?

Brian Nolan

Barna, Co Galway

Neither. It was hair ice, which grows on bare dead wood in freezing conditions. It grows outwards from the surface as supercooled water emerges from the wood and freezes.

How can one deter gulls from nesting on rooftops?

Mike Mitchell

Sandymount, Dublin

You can download a booklet with advice at iti.ms/15DGXmK

Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address