Aerial attack to spray pine bugs

A HELICOPTER is coming from France this week to spray some 15 million pine trees against the ravages of the pine processionary caterpillar.

Forestry Department direction Ercan Poyraz said the aerial attack would cover 10,000 hectares of woodland and would be a continuation of the biological campaign against the moths and their caterpillar larvae that has been waged for the last two years.

The method, judged earlier this year the “most effective” approach, has already seen a “considerable drop” in the number of the voracious and damaging caterpillars seen in the TRNC’s forests, said Mr Poyraz.

He explained that spraying had to be done between October and February, when the pine processionary moths laid their eggs in nests in the trees, where the caterpillars hatch and develop before emerging in spring.

Although the caterpillars did not kill the trees, their feeding denuded them and stunted growth, weaking them and making them more susceptible to disease and attack by other insects. The hairs of the caterpillars can also provoke a severe allergic reaction in humans and animals.

Mr Poyraz said the zones to be sprayed had been identified and mapped by Forestry officials after surveys on the ground. Schools and municipalities were also being given the same organic spray to use on trees in parks and school grounds.