PINE PROCESSIONARY in Biscay
Nowadays this images are more and more common in our province’s (Biscay) forests. To understand why is it a problem, first, we have to know what is processionary and how it acts.
What is processionary?
The pine processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is a moth of the family Thaumetopoeidae.Where we can find it?
It’s very extended. We can mostly find it in the pines of the centre and the South of Europe.
Apart from pines (2), processionary also lives in cedars (3) and fir trees. (1)
The problem that in Biscay we have the most is the Pine processionary.
1 2 3
How it acts?
The butterfly gets out on june or july normally. A female butterfly goes to a branch and starts to release pheromones. Because of that, males feel attracted and they begin to pair.
The butterfly gets out on june or july normally. A female butterfly goes to a branch and starts to release pheromones. Because of that, males feel attracted and they begin to pair.
Once this, they can:
- Stay in the same pine tree.
- Choose another pine and go there.
After that, the female butterfly, lay about 200 eggs and they born on september. Once they are born, they held together and their bag get bigger with more silk.
On winter they already have the typical white bags and they spend all the season there. When they get to the final molt, they go down the pine and enclose themselves underground.
Once at the underground, they go through the pupa phase to turn on butterfly. They can go out of the ground on summer, but they can also keep on the underground from 1 to 10 years. This period is named diapause.
Because of this diapause is very difficult to find the solution. Every year new species can born. The negative consequences on pines
Defoliation rarely causes the death of pine trees, but it affects a lot, because they lose the strength, facilitating further attacks from other pests. Small pines can be totally dried.
The negative consequences in humans and animals
Besides the pain that caterpillars cause to our forest and pine trees, they have urticating hairs which have a substance called “Histaminoliberadora”.These insects cause a frequent urticaria and conjunctivitis to people that go so often to the pines in spring.
Seen this, all the people that enters in contact with this caterpillar can have the possibility of developing an allergy, similar to to pollens allergy.
Those allergic reactions cause a liberation of some chemical substances that make the skin become inflamed and create weals. Normally, the urticaria disappears spontaneously, but, in extreme cases, it is also possible to become inflamed the air and make difficult the to breath, making an emergency.
Sources: 
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario