In recent years Mallorca hass suffered from a damaging plague of Pine Processionaries ( Thaumetopoea pityocampa )
They are not only harmfull to certain types of trees but also can be very dangerous for humans and other animals.
The Caterpillar of the Pine Processionary is covered in tiny hairs, these can cause harmfull reactions when touched and can be lethal if ingested.
Last year I almost fell victim to one of these caterpillars , this is the story of what happened. I left a can of cold beer outside on my balcony unattended for a couple minutes while I went inside to check on the food that was cooking. When I returned I noticed a caterpillar hanging by a leg on the inside of the can it had fallen from a nest above directly on the can and was about to fall inside. The next thing that would have happened is after drinking my beer I would have had it in my mouth my throat would have swollen up and I would likely have died from a lack of oxigen a few minutes later,
So this year we eliminated all the nests a couple months ago already, to make sure that I get to stick around a little bit longer. Also our dogs like to roam around our garden and we don't want to take any risks with them getting hurt.
Here is a little bit more about the Pine Processionary
The caterpillar pine processionary is responsible for most of the defoliation of southern Europe's forests. A couple of these nests are enough to strip a Pine tree of all its needles as you will be able to see below in these images that I took early this morning. Pine trees are the most affected by these but they also destroy cedar and larch trees by foraging.
The life cycle includes egg-larvae ( caterpillar ) and moth, normally in late march or early april these caterpillars dig themselves into underground cocoons being reborn as Moths about seven months later.
These caterpillas are avid foragers marching out at night in a single column which actually is quite an interesting sight, they release a pheromone which allows them to mark the trail and follow each other.
A big problem that is having a damaging impact is the threat to its natural predators such as the cuckoo, some types of wasps and horseflies also feed on them. Adult months maybe be eaten by bats. For a while they sprayed the forests but I can only imagine the damage they did by doing this. One of the most common methods of extermination is by shooting the nests with salt pellets.
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Eggs are laid in the trees by the adults moths and form tents which serve as housing for the larvae.
This is one of the nests I captured with my phone while walking this morning.
You have to be carefull because once the larva gets to its most advanced stage they may shoot off hairs to defend itself so one needs to be cautious when closing in to take these pictures.
Here is a nest with one the caterpillars getting ready to drop out.
Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed my post ( true story by the way)
