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Brown tail tussock moth
Posted 08-09-2011 at 08:21 PM by healfdan
Here on a small stretch of waste ground called Selsey Common in the county of West Sussex, the caterpillars of the Brown tail tussock moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea have reached alarming levels. Although at present the wrigglers are very small and contained within a web tent, they pose a real threat to the leaves of several shrub species and to public health when they emerge from their winter quarters next spring. The caterpillars will quickly strip the leaves from their chosen food plant, which could be Bramble, Hawthorn, Apple etc. There is also an additional problem and that is the fine hairs that cover the caterpillars. These are shed freely and pose a threat to people coming into contact with the hairs, causing varying degrees of discomfort from itching to respiratory problems, if inhaled. Following a request by our wildlife volunteers the local authority have been forced to resort to chemical control, in an effort to reduce the threat. The scale of the problem is such, that in an area dominated by bramble and roughly 200 metres in length and 15 metres wide we have estimated well over 600 web tents.
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