Pine Processionary
The other day, Neil was on a procession from Yialos to Horio, or vice versa, along the main road that zigzags up/down from the harbour’s eastern end. He came across this…
It’s a line of Pine Processionary caterpillars (Thaumetopoea pityocampa, if you will), and seeing this image, you can understand where they get part of their name from. They get the other part, the ‘Pine’ from the fact that they hang out in pine trees. The adult moths lay their eggs near the tops of pine trees. After hatching, the larva eat pine needles while progressing through five stages of development. In order to maintain beneficial living conditions, silken nests are built over the winter. Around the beginning of April, the caterpillars leave the nests in the procession for which the species is known. They burrow underground and emerge at the end of summer. (Wiki)
I’m not too sure what they are up to in that photo, perhaps discussing who’s going to be in the lead. There’s something you should know about them, though. The urticating hairs of the caterpillar larvae cause harmful reactions in humans and other mammals. So, if you see any, don’t pick them up. This is what the moth looks like, and I think they are harmless.
There, that’s my biology lesson for today. Now for a random photo of some cyclamen.
