Pine Processionary Caterpillar
Thaumetopoea Pityocampa
Lifecycle
These insects are only active during the colder times of the year, spending the warm summer months as a pupa buried in the ground. The moths begin to emerge from the soil in August. Adults then mate and seek out pine trees on which to place their eggs. Each female produces a single egg mass which it fastens to a pine needle. An egg mass may contain up to 300 or so eggs. The eggs are completely covered with scales that were detached from the abdomen of the female. |
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Shelter Building
Pine Processionary Caterpillars are highly social insects. At first they are nomadic, spinning and abandoning a series of flimsy shelters constructed by enveloping a few needles in silk but in the third instar they initiate the construction of a permanent nest. There is no single entrance that the caterpillars use. Instead they will force their way through the layers of silk to both enter and exit the shelter. Waste produced by the caterpillars accumulates at the bottom of the shelter.
Foraging Habits
Colonies remain active throughout the winter months. They leave their nests soon after sunset to feed overnight, then return to the nest at dawn. The caterpillars rest in the nest during the day. By March the caterpillars are in the fifth instar and are now fully grown. At this time the leave their nest, following each other in long, head to tail processions to seek out pupation sites in the soil.
Health Risks
Contact with Pine Processionary Caterpillars (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) induces dermatitus and ocular lesions through their toxic-irritative hairs. Airborne hairs are able to induce allergic pathologies in children. |
