Great shot, when these are newly hatched I believe than can be dispersed by the wind from where the eggs were laid on the females cocoon to hopefully near a suitable foodplant..

Thanks Adrian, I had no idea although I knew some things did, makes sense because they were found on a fence post, and the cats hatched a few at a time.

What are they feeding on? I raised a number of Lymantriid cats last year. Urocoma baliolalis. Mine fed on Eucalypt, of course! :-) They were slow developers over winter, which probably isn't surprising.

These are feeding on bramble bush (Rubus fruticosa) or in America we called them blackberry or prickly bushes. These should pupate and emerge this summer so not so long to wait :)