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Project Noah Nature School
Thaumetopoea pityocampa
The species is notable for the behaviour of its caterpillar larvae, which overwinter in tent-like nests high in pine trees, and which process through the woods in nose-to-tail columns, protected by their severely irritating hairs, as described by the pioneering entomologist Jean Henri Fabre.
Spotted on Jan 8, 2012
Submitted on Jan 15, 2012
7 Comments
here where i live i see Great Tits every day and Blue Tits once in a while,less common but present
We only occasionally see Great Tits here and I have yet to see a Blue Tit here although I've see them in Segovia.
Luckily, there are natural predators like hoopoe, great tit and blue tit, to fight against this pest.
My femmale dog was luky that day,we washed her in a fountain and given her water in the way home and stop "n" times when see want to vomit or purge her self whit herbes to induce the vometing.Go see Malcolm link spott is fantastic and a great info for solve this problem,at list we they have a predator,it´s a ligth in the end of the tunnel,because in the north there are interie mountains whith dead pine trees,i saw that years ago,i imagine now
These can actually be fatal to pets and children, especially if proper medical attention is not taken straight away. We cut down the nests we can reach and burn them. But Hoopoes love to probe into the nests for their food so presumably they are immune? See my pictures here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/552...
I found this group at my sister's house. She has also a female dog that once ate a pine processionary and got very ill and lost a piece of its tongue.
very good spott.i have a dog femmale that once eat some of this and i tell you,it was not a good idea:)she vomited,all the afternoon and only at nigth she stay normal.it´s a pest to the pine tree forests that we have in iberia peninsula,very nasty litle organism,it's spread all over ,big problem to solved.