Friday 27th October 2017
INITIATED THE PREVENTIVE TREATMENTS AGAINST THE PROCESSIONARY CATERPILLAR IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF CALVIÀ
The Action Plan includes an integrated control system to combat the plague in all its phases
The action plan designed for the 2017-2018 year to face the processionary caterpillar plague has in Calvià an integrated control system, adjusted to the biological cycle of Thaumetopoea pityocampa, to fight against the plague in all its phases.
The objective of the control programme is to avoid, as far as possible, that the pine processionary reaches population levels that are above a threshold causing health problems to humans or their pets. To achieve this, citizen collaboration is requested so that control strategies can also be followed on private properties. The joint coordination, collaboration and action of the actions in the municipal and private area is fundamental to achieve an optimal control of this species.
The Calvià Town Hall initiated on19th September the preventive treatments against the pine processionary in the areas of municipal competence. The treatments are being carried out in two stages.
The consistory, prior to the application of the insecticide, installed last June a trap network to capture adults strategically placed and distributed throughout the municipality. The objective pursued was, on the one hand, to reduce the population of processionaries by capturing specimens in the adult phase, and on the other to obtain data from which to estimate the incidence of this plague in Calvià. Thanks to the data obtained, it has been possible to design, prioritise and direct the applications towards the most sensitive areas.
During the first stage of preventive treatments, treatment has been prioritised in those places that during the past year were classified as more sensitive and of higher incidence: preschools and primary schools, nursery schools, public car parks, promenades, etc. In these areas the endotherapy technique is used, consisting of the application of a systemic insecticide directly inside the pine. The pine itself is responsible for distributing and transporting the product to the pine needles, and when eaten by the caterpillars, it kills them. The use of this technique is especially advisable in areas with lots of people since they avoid problems derived from traditional spraying such as product spreading and the closure of roads or public spaces during the application. We are currently in this first stage of treatment.
During the second stage, the efforts will focus on the rest of the municipal areas, acting firstly in those in which a greater presence of processionary has been detected. The insecticide application in this second phase will be carried out by spraying a specific and selective biological product. The works are expected to last until mid-November.
It is essential that the municipal actions are reinforced by private actions on private properties. For this reason, an informative bulletin with the recommendations to be followed by the citizens to face this plague. has been posted on the Town Hall's website.
The effectiveness of the results, especially in the long term, will be enhanced by the joint action on municipal and private lands, since insects do not understand barriers and the processionary, in its adult phase, can fly from one pine to another without distinguishing between private and municipal.