Hairy caterpillar fogging programme still on |15 September 2017

The caterpillars attack a wide range of plants

The National Biosecurity Agency (NBA) has confirmed that its office has been receiving quite a significant number of calls recently with regard to hairy caterpillars.

From May 9, 2017 to September 11, 2017 the NBA has received 127 calls/requests for hairy caterpillar spraying/fogging.

According to the NBA, all requests have been submitted for action in four batches since June 2017. The latest batch, consisting of 44 requests, was submitted on September 11, 2017.

“Calls/requests are being received from government ministries, departments and agencies, private residences and businesses including tourism establishments. However not all requests could be carried out for a number of reasons such as the persons not answering calls once the spray team is in the area or persons not wanting the fogging to be done at a particular time. Also adverse weather conditions such as rain, prevent fogging from being carried out. In these cases the requests are rescheduled for a later date,” the NBA says.

Despite all these challenges, the NBA has said that the hairy caterpillar fogging programme is well under way and requests/calls are being actioned on, to the best of its capabilities and resources available.

NBA says it is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

Members of the public are also encouraged to contact private companies for assistance regarding the matter.

It was in January 2015 that Seychelles was faced for the first time with outbreaks of a highly polyphagous hairy caterpillar. The hairy caterpillar has four (4) development stages -- egg, larva, pupa and adult. The caterpillars attack a wide range of plants including important fruit producing trees such as cashew, guava, mango, golden apple and jamalac as well as a series of ornamental and wild plants. Typically, large numbers of caterpillars aggregate in dense clusters to feed collectively on leaves, inflorescences and fruits thereby inflicting damage to infested plants.

The main concern raised by the presence of this species in Seychelles is a human health problem. Discomfort, skin rashes or serious irritations can develop when micro‐hairs of the caterpillars come into contact with or penetrate human skin. The hairs can also be set free in the air when caterpillars are disturbed in their feeding places and transported by wind into homes or onto clothes. One of the management options suggested by the NBA is trapping. Adult moths are quite active during the night hence light traps with a sticky board or water can attract and kill adults. Yellow sticky traps can also play a role in reducing this pests population although not drastically.