200 traps to catch pine processionary butterflies

The Consell de Formentera and Balearic Healthy Forests Service are pleased to make available to the public 200 traps to capture the pine processionary butterflies (Thaumetopoea pityocampa). Interested parties can request them at the Formentera Department of Environment at Carrer de Mallorca (15, Sant Ferran de Ses Roques) or by calling 971 32 12 10 (ext. 1).

The traps use pheromones to attract male butterflies and capture them, which in turn reduces the population of fertile males that can inseminate females. It is recommended they be installed in the first half of August, before the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises.

The insect was detected for the first time on Formentera in 2007 and was declared a plague in 2016. In recent years actions taken in an attempt to control the processionary have consisted in eliminating the bags which the caterpillars weave during the winter; capturing butterflies with traps; installing refuge boxes to encourage presence of chiroptera; aerial dustings and periodic ground treatment.

The pine processionary is a defoliating insect that feeds on the leaves of the native Balearic pine (Pinus halepensis). The insect does not itself kill the trees it defoliates, rather it leaves them more sensitive to drought or attack from scoliid insects which can eventually cause death.

Pine processionaries can also cause dermatological and allergic damage to people and animals as a result of the stinging hairs it has on the dorsal part of its abdomen. Balearic Healthy Forests Service remind the public that complete information is available on the website sanitatforestal.caib.es.

5 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera