Worms orgy in lemon tree

Somedays algo i was walking around The garden and i discovered a small section of a branch of a lemon tree full of worms.
I always walk around The garden and i havent seen before, suddenly they were there. The worms stayed there in The same position and Then one day in The morning they were gonne and i.couldnt be able to find them.

Any idea what happened?

What were The worms doing?

they were just eating and growing up! there’s safety in numbers, these were likely all siblings, from eggs all laid by one female…moth? wasp? hard to tell right off, larvae can look very similar. i have hazel sawflies (technically wasps) that do the same thing here. when they all disappear at once it usually means they went somewhere (usually the ground) to pupate more safely.

greg mosser wrote:they were just eating and growing up! there’s safety in numbers, these were likely all siblings, from eggs all laid by one female…moth? wasp? hard to tell right off, larvae can look very similar. i have hazel sawflies (technically wasps) that do the same thing here. when they all disappear at once it usually means they went somewhere (usually the ground) to pupate more safely.

Cool ! before i  was thinking. There should be a relation between The shape the worms are generating collectively and some function.  Maybe The answer is safety and survival.

I thought saw-fly larvae too - the sort we get are black and 'ugly' spit and wave menacingly if provoked  (well you have to, don't you - well I do, with anything new)  and yes, they do suddenly disappear!