Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust said the skins of bugs have been found on Winmarleigh Moss, close Garstang.
The baculovirus drives caterpillars on a “demise walk” to the highest point of plants, at that point when it bites the dust the bug blasts out to look for different casualties.
The trust’s Dr Chris Miller said it was “grisly – like a zombie blood and guts movie”.
Dr Miller said it was truly irregular seeing caterpillars high up
Dr Miller was completing a butterfly overview on Winmarleigh Moss when he saw a caterpillar swinging from the finish of a branch of a little shrub.
He at that point saw another swinging from a tall piece of sod.
“Both were dead however generally in place,” he said.
Dr Miller additionally saw “little pieces of caterpillar skin” on different branches he checked.
He said inquire about is demonstrating that the baculovirus influences the way the “zombie” creepy crawlies react to light, “making them move to higher and more perilous spots and when they arrive they kick the bucket”.
“It is truly unordinary seeing caterpillars high up as they can be eaten by winged animals.
“This is a caterpillar of the oak eggar moth which eats heather and bilberry so it is ordinarily covered up in the undergrowth, not at the highest point of plants.”