Christmas tree warning over ‘clumps’ that are sign of a much bigger problem

It is a crucial decision that comes round but once a year: to buy a real , or go with an altogether and easier to manage artificial one.

Each have their advantages and disadvantages. But there is one thing that those who decide to get a should keep an eye out for.

It is worth doing, because it could mean the presence of something very rare in the .

Your tree may have on its branches small clumps, which seem to resemble pinecones.

However, they it’s possible that they are actually something very different and unexpected.

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These can contain between 100 and 200 eggs.

According to National Geographic, the insects have an average lifespan of one year in the wild, and can grow to be between 0.4 to 18 inches long.

The young, called nymphs, can disperse immediately and begin looking for food.

The pop superstar Taylor Swift grew up on a farm that grew Christmas trees.

She has spoken of her life there, which included picking off the mantis eggs, and even wrote a song about it.

During an interview with , Swift recalled: “We all had jobs.

“Mine was picking the praying-mantis pods off of the trees, collecting them so that the bugs wouldn’t hatch inside people’s houses.

She added: “The only reason that was my job was because I was too little to help lift trees.”

The singer also said: “It was such a weird place to grow up. But it has cemented in me this unnatural level of excitement about fall and then the holiday season.

“My friends are so sick of me talking about autumn coming. They’re like, ‘What are you, an elf?’”

While the European Praying Mantis is not considered endangered, it can suffer from habitat changes thanks to industrialisation or agricultural development.

Therefore, checking any new trees carefully before entering the house is advisable.

According to the , it is estimated that between six and eight million Christmas trees are sold in the UK each year.