The processionaries return to appear in parks and gardens, especially in Val Venosta, where one of the most serious invasions of the last 10 years is taking place.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThey are particularly feared as they seriously endanger the health, especially of animals. But there are those who, thinking of solving the problem in a drastic way, shoot on the nests. We, on the other hand, explain why this practice è useless and dangerous.
All of you will have happened to notice those hairy caterpillars that walk in single file as if they were in procession (hence the name of processionary). Apparently harmless, in reality these animals are endowed with a hair that is strongly stinging and dangerous due to the serious reactions it can trigger especially on dogs, leading them, in the most serious cases, to death. The processionary moth is also irritating for the man who, if he comes into contact with it, sees redness, vesicles and bubbles appear.
Because shooting processionary nests is useless
The ability to shoot is aimed at killing the larvae by removing the warm protection of the nest before they can transform into the much feared caterpillars. But is this really the way to keep the Pino processionary at bay? The answer is no. Shooting this animal's nests is a dangerous and in most cases useless practice. Destroying parts of the nests with hunting ammunition is not in fact sufficient to ensure that the larvae remain for the time necessary at low temperatures capable of killing them. Also, the gunshots can cause that the stinging hairs contained in the nest are dispersed into the environment.
The fight against the processionary is mandatory and regulated by a Ministerial Decree. What can be done to fight it is to act as early as winter by removing the nests (an extremely delicate operation that must be done by specialized personnel and never improvising) while at the end of the summer you can use biological insecticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, completely harmless to humans and animals.
Precautions
The precautions we all should have are:
- Autumn and winter: do not go near the nests or the larvae, also avoiding to stop under the plants that are infested with them
- Spring Season: avoid approaching caterpillars, picking them up or killing them
- Do not try to destroy the nests with artisanal means
- Wash fruit and vegetables abundantly collected near the infested trees
We also pay particular attention to where we take our dogs to run to avoid unpleasant encounters. Other useful information concerning processionaries can be found in this information booklet.
Read also:
- Processionary: why it is dangerous, symptoms and remedies
- Processionary alarm, children in the emergency room: why this insect is so dangerous
- Attention, the pine processionary is already back!
