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19/08/2007, 18:59 Jonzjob Joined on 23/08/2004 Nr Carcassonne, 11 Posts 2,844 Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! Blimey it is getting close again to the time when our lovely (???) little caterpillars will be in the pine trees again. ChrisPP, have you ever heard of the microbial insecticide called bacillus thruingiensis? One strian appears to attack only caterpillars by disrupting their gut lining? It seems to be good against pine processionary caterpillars if it's used on their food trees? Not much else eats the needles, so relatively safe for other butterflies and moths. What do you think please??? For anyone that has not heard of these little perishers please have a look at http://web.cortland.edu/fitzgerald/PineProcessionary.html . They are not a nice thing to have anywhere near your garden and there seem to be LOTS of them around. If you have seen a pine tree that looks as if most of the needles have been stripped from it then these have probably done the damage! They are dangerous to mamals. Sorry, John's favorite hate in the approaching autumn!!   John. The only difference between the men & the boys is the size & the shape & the price of their toys!!    Report

19/08/2007, 20:07 chris pp Joined on 30/08/2005 Vienne '86' Posts 1,717 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! Bacillus thuringiensis... not very sure, personally I wouldn't use it, but then I don't use anything apart from maybe once or twice a year when I may have to rid the post box of paper wasps. http://planetepassion.com/Pine_processionary_moth_thaumetopoea_pityocampa.htm Chris http://www.planetepassion.com Association Planete Passion - French Wildlife in the English Language    Report

19/08/2007, 21:40 Jonzjob Joined on 23/08/2004 Nr Carcassonne, 11 Posts 2,844 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! Thank you Chris, I wondered about any miracle cure? I would think that it would be good for these as they only inhabit certain types of pine. I was also under the impression that they are very weak fliers and can't get much above 6 to  8 feet high and that is the level in the pines that they lay their eggs. The link that I gave has a good photo of their eggs on a pine needle. If you see them just pull the needle off and crush it under foot. As far as the 'Bt' is concerned I have not heard of it before and wondered if it is the 'magic bullet' for these little devils if used in the correct way? These things do cause the death of a boat load of trees. Not just in France. Just google them for Cyprus, Italy or France. they are causing a tremendous amount of damage. In Spain some of the cities are spending a small fortune inoculating all the trees in the cities to get rid of them. They devistate thousnds of hectatres of pine woodland every year at great cost. They cause bad skin irritation and can cause blindness, sometimes permantly, if handled wrongly. Dogs are inquisitive and can suffer very painful death if they sniff at them. Something that your site does not mention Chris, is that they can come down on balmy days in mid winter to bask in the sun on the ground and be 'found' by people, dogs or cats. The main thing for us is to keep a look out for them from September onwards. At first the eggs show, normaly on the low branches, have a look at the web site above for a photo of an egg collection on a needle. I have seen several and they really do look like the photo. If you miss those then the flimsy temporary cocoons show low down on the tree. BUT the later you spot them the higher and the bigger they get. I have a branch lopper that extends 4.1 meters, with me under it, 6 meters plus and I have had to  use my pool brush strapped to it to reach the highest cocoons in our trees. I have also balanced on high ladders. I don't do that sort of thing unless I think it is necessary! When I get them, I burn them!!!!! I wear gloves to handle them too! Sorry to be so insistant, but we have a curious, always hungry, chocky lab *** and we want to keep her that way, not dead from these things! As you know Chris I love to protect wildlife, but  I will destroy every one of these that I can. John. The only difference between the men & the boys is the size & the shape & the price of their toys!!    Report

26/08/2007, 21:25 Jonzjob Joined on 23/08/2004 Nr Carcassonne, 11 Posts 2,844 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! Seems as if the cousin of this little horror is on the move in the U.K.??? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6962713.stm The oak processionary!! John. The only difference between the men & the boys is the size & the shape & the price of their toys!!    Report

16/09/2007, 21:54 Jonzjob Joined on 23/08/2004 Nr Carcassonne, 11 Posts 2,844 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! Yesterday I cut the first tiny cocoon and an egg sac needle out of one of our pines! The caterpillars were tiny, about 3/16" long, but still capable of eating the pine needles. They were in the first of their 5 stages of development! They are now departed this world and will do no harm. So now it is a frequent chech, because if I don't find and destroy them now they get higher and higher and larger and more dangerous as they grow. Please keep a careful eye out for them! If you would like any info on them then please first have a look at the link on my first post in this thread and if you would like any more gen PM or e-mail me and I will tyr to help. John. The only difference between the men & the boys is the size & the shape & the price of their toys!!    Report

26/02/2008, 18:59 Jazzer Joined on 07/01/2008 Sugeres Posts 42 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! On Sunday we noticed several chains of caterpillars near our local pine forest. Each chain consisted of some 45 caterpillars nose to tail. Incredible sight. At first sight we thought they were small snakes. Had not seen this thread before and did not appreciate the danger.    Report

27/02/2008, 11:24 Chateau Miaou Joined on 16/02/2007 Castelnaudary, Aude (11) Posts 106 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! Jazzer, they are incredible to see (if very deadly) and, apparently, they form the 'chains' to make themselves look like snakes so that the birds flying overhead won't swoop on them for a tasty snack. You'll find more useful info about them on this thread: Caterpillars   Cat's motto: "No matter what you've done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it." - Unknown    Report

28/02/2008, 7:38 Colonel Mustard Joined on 29/08/2007 Posts 51 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! I live in Herault and mine came down this morning. Tally Ho!    Report

01/03/2008, 15:06 Jonzjob Joined on 23/08/2004 Nr Carcassonne, 11 Posts 2,844 Re: Pine processionary caterpillar time soon again!! If it was like here they have probably come down to get some warmth from the lovely sun and will go back into their tree. They should be coming down to pupate later this month and that's the time when you will se lots. We have commented that there seems to be a heck of a lot more this year than we have seen before. We had a trip, by car, back to the U.K. last month and we saw them most of the way North and a lot further North than we expected too. The French realise how bad they are but seem to do exactly zero about them??? They really do cause a tremendous amount of damage as well as posing a big threat.   John. The only difference between the men & the boys is the size & the shape & the price of their toys!!    Report

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France Forum » French Culture » Wildlife/Nature... » Re: Pine processionary caterpillar - very scary now i know about them.

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