It's been some days since the summer... But this summer seems to be not very friendly to the Netherlands, especially the small partners in the east and south, I think everyone has been brushed by the following news these days.
Similar news has been reported before: Be careful! Creeps! The horrible caterpillars multiplied wildly, and the Dutch family of three was forced to move
However, at that time, everyone may think that this is a case, and there is no need to worry too much... However, the situation of this poisonous caterpillar is even more unfortunate this year than last year, and you can better understand this statement through the caterpillar area below.
The Netherlands receives a reported number of caterpillars
Caterpillar plagues are mainly distributed in the southern and central east-central regions of the Netherlands, and if you want to see more details, you can visit this address: http://bit.ly/2X741nU
Image: Proper way to reach caterpillars (pros only), source Google
There may be some friends who do not know much about this matter, in order to help this part of the students to prevent harm in this regard, today I will talk about the abominable creature of the oak caterpillar.
Oak caterpillars are larvae of the oak processierups ( Dutch ) , which begin pupating in June and early July , feathering into butterflies in their nests around the end of July and early August. The larvae live in groups and grow through 6 stages. These caterpillars usually live in oak forests and feed on oak leaves, causing serious damage to forestry and many other aspects. They often act in a row (hence the name), with the leader then lining up in rows of caterpillars.
Image: Oak parade moth and its larvae (oak caterpillar), source Google
These caterpillars are very harmful to the human body because their toxic bristles are a human irritant. Each caterpillar has about 700,000 poisonous hairs, which are irritating, and human contact can cause itching, rashes, irritation of the eyes or respiratory tract and persistent itching, symptoms that can last for two weeks and, in severe cases, even shock.
So! Don't touch these caterpillars directly!
However, this is not to say that if you don't take the initiative to "touch" you will be fine. The problem is that when these caterpillars feel threatened, the poisonous hairs on their bodies pop out and float in the air (hmm... It will explode). If people with allergies encounter this situation, inhaling excess villi will cause anaphylactic shock, resulting in tight respiratory tract closure, and even death in severe cases.
Image: Symptoms after exposure to poisonous insects, source Google
More professional information is available on www.oakie.info website, which estimates that the situation may not ease until October, as there has been no excellent precautionary work to address the problem until now.
This year's caterpillar damage has quadrupled compared to previous years, and in the early days, Enschede was the hardest hit area. In as little as May to mid-June, Enschede has received more than 2,000 reports of caterpillar injury, compared to 1,050 in the whole of last year. A large part of the reason for this is that the treatment of these caterpillars in previous years was not thorough enough, leaving a lot of sequelae. Part of the reason is also because this year's climate is warmer, suitable for caterpillar hatching, and early spring also makes the leaves grow faster, making it difficult for some of their natural predators such as birds to find them directly, and also giving caterpillars plenty of food.
Normally, controlling the caterpillar population is the responsibility of the tree owner, but in the final analysis, it has the greatest relationship with the city hall, because the municipal government must be responsible for most of the trees in the city. There are few preventive controls that Enschede City Hall can take, such as pesticides that cannot be used because it kills not only oak caterpillars, but also other insects living in oak trees. This implies a violation of the Nature Management Act, in which certain other insect species are required to be protected.
So the only remaining method that can be used is to use a large vacuum cleaner with super suction power to suck the bugs away with their nests, as shown in the figure:
Suck the trees of caterpillars and nests from the site, source Tutanbia
Such insecticidal services cost about 400 euros per hour, consume a lot of time and effort on the staff, and are currently the main response. In addition to sucking away caterpillars and nests, make sure that the caterpillar's hairs no longer cause nuisance in the form of itching or irritation of the airways.
But this year's control is more difficult than in previous years, because of the warm climate and the storms of the previous days, the caterpillars are very scattered and active this year. Usually they will climb to the top or bottom of the tree at night and hide in the nest during the day, so that the staff can suck the entire nest away. This year they also came out during the day, which made it difficult to concentrate on them and made the progress of the prevention and control work throughout the Enschede region very slow.
In a nutshell, Encun's treatment of oak caterpillars will be a protracted battle that could last for weeks. “Our goal is to deal with the problem as much as possible. But for the trees with a low priority, I have a hard head that it is possible to remove the nests there this year. Jacques van den Hof, a tree specialist at the town hall of the village of En.
Interestingly, some Dutch municipalities are experimenting with ecological control methods, using natural enemies to solve the oak caterpillar problem. They hang birdcages in many parts of the city for caterpillar-eating large and blue. According to the city, the success of this eco-friendly approach to control in other cities has given them great expectations.
Another piece of bad news is that an evolved version of the oak caterpillar, the pine caterpillar, has now been found in the southern provinces of the Netherlands, which means that the caterpillar problem in the Netherlands will be an ongoing problem until the most effective control method is found.
Reactions to the problem from within the University of Twente in the hard-hit area
Oak caterpillars have been raging on campus during the summer months of the past few years. Last year, the school's green plant management department cleaned up caterpillars every weekend, and this year the problem is as serious as the entire area of En Village. So as a high-tech university, what measures have we taken to address this problem?
(1) As with the city hall, the main means in the school is to report and tie the trees where insects are found, and set up signs to warn students to stay away from these trees. This is followed by the suction cleanup of these registered numbers of caterpillars and their nests.
(2) Tree change, as the name suggests, oak caterpillars mainly live on oak trees. In addition, the school has removed many summer oaks and placed about 80 new trees that are less attractive to caterpillars, such as maple trees and some swamp oaks.
(3) The idea behind biodiversity, removing oak trees, and planting more varieties of other plants is to create a diversified living environment for animal species, attracting more species, thereby inhibiting or even eliminating oak caterpillars.
(4) In addition to transplanting trees, bird nests were hung directly in 60 places on campus to attract natural enemies of caterpillars such as giant. Spray so-called nematodes (a natural worm that is also a natural enemy of oak caterpillars). These nematodes attack and kill caterpillars.
(5) Information systems, all actions and observations made on trees registered with the presence of caterpillars are recorded in a geological information system so that more targeted preventive measures can be taken in the future. In this way, employees can easily detect which trees are infected. In addition, this information can also be used for strategic arrangements, such as the nest where the big is placed and the area where the nematodes are sprayed.
Photo: School caterpillar control personnel and equipment, source of the school news page
Personal Coping Methods:
If you see a bunch of oak caterpillars on a tree where you are located and the tree is not marked with a strap, please report it to the relevant department, such as the local municipality, indicate the exact location, and preferably add one or more photos.
In order to prevent or respond to the tummy stings that have been suffered, the following suggestions can be referred to:
(1) Avoid going to places where these poisonous caterpillars and their hair and nests are found (tree edges marked with straps);
(2) If you want to go out through these places, try to wear long sleeves, cover your neck, arms and legs, and do not sit on the ground;
(3) Change clothes frequently, and wear clothes that have been to these places, preferably rinsed at high temperatures;
(4) Tape to the stung skin (after applying it, tear it off and repeat it several times), and then rinse the skin and eyes with warm water, usually the symptoms will disappear automatically within a few days to two weeks;
(5) Do not scratch or rub the itchy part, use some cool ointment (such as menthol), can alleviate severe itching;
Image: Some practical ointments (available for purchase at Etos, K stores, etc.), heart-warming information from UT's No. 2 editor
(6) If the symptoms are severe, please see your family doctor immediately
Finally, if the work of the municipal government is not very satisfied, so they hope that everyone will jointly petition to urge the city hall to increase the intensity and progress of prevention and control, such as allocating more funds to the prevention and control team to hire and lease more relevant personnel and equipment, etc., and returning everyone a quiet and itchy life as soon as possible!
Reprint weChat public account Twente information, some of the pictures come from the network / Netherlands is worth buying WeChat group