Miracle Solution: Use This Bacteria to Eliminate Processionary Caterpillars

We are in mid-May and if it signs the return of sunny days and hot temperatures, it is also the period of the resurgence of processionary caterpillars. And no, this is not good news. This insect that gives birth to the butterfly Thaumetopoea Pityocampa represents a certain danger for you, your animals and your garden. It should therefore be eliminated. But how?

If you have not been able to spot them visually, a certain index will allow you to know that you probably have them in your garden: your tree has lost its leaves. This is normal in autumn, it is abnormal in the spring.

But more than for plants, processionary caterpillars represent a direct danger for humans and animals. Indeed, these small insects have a very effective means of defense which is on their back: thousands of stinging hairs which release a toxin when they break or when they are ejected.

Yes, because in the event of a threat, the processionary caterpillars expel their hair in the air so that they come into contact with the skin or whether they are inhaled. Symptoms that are not, relatively, not very serious, result in: difficulties in breathing, infections or irritation of the eyes, but also of hives. It is therefore necessary to keep children and fragile people away as far as possible from these insects.

This mechanism for the defense of processionary caterpillars applies to both humans and wild or domestic animals. It is therefore advisable, if you have noticed their presence in your garden, to take the necessary measures to avoid any future complications.

A bacteria to eliminate them

The traditional method to get rid of processionary caterpillars is to use powerful insecticides. However, if this allows you to protect yourself from their presence and eliminate them, you put in danger of other insects and animals (wild or domestic) that populate your garden. And when you know that the bees are in danger and that it is absolutely necessary to save them, you cannot afford to make similar collateral damage.

There is therefore a solution to target processionary caterpillars without threatening the rest of the garden ecosystem. These are Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki Or BTK, a bacteria present in the earth which, when ingested by processionary caterpillars, will cause lesions in their stomach.

No longer able to eat because of their injuries, the processionary caterpillars end up dying after a few days.

However, a miracle solution often comes with an application that requires certain conditions. For the BTK bacteria to act on these insects, it is necessary:

• that it is sprayed on the leaves only from the ground. It is forbidden, for the moment, to use a spraying from the air.
• that he does not rain
• that the wind speed is less than 18 km/h

And to get it, nothing could be simpler, you just have to go to a garden center or to specialized sites that can provide you.

For all the information necessary to identify processionary caterpillars and their elimination, do not hesitate to leaf through the guide dedicated to these insects available just here: The oak processionary, to know it better to protect yourself.

Source : INRAE