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You might think that furry caterpillars are some of the more cute and cuddly insects out there. Not these ones. If you’ve noticed a load of white, long-haired caterpillars on the trunks of the capital’s trees, stay clear. They may well be oak processionary moth caterpillars, and they’re pretty toxic.
To spot the furry beasties, look out for long lines of white fluff on oak trees. If you touch them, they can cause rashes, vomiting, breathing difficulties and asthma attacks – caused by a nasty irritable protein in the hairs called thaumetopoein. The bugs shed the hairs when they’re disturbed and, on a windy day, they can be blown off and picked up by children and pets. Pretty monstrous stuff.
According to the Evening Standard, the pests bury into bark to feed and make ‘cottony hammock-like’ nests. July is prime feeding season, but further into summer they’ll turn into non-hazardous adult moths.
Hounslow council have been hard at work removing nests from the Bedfont area, urging people to report any sightings and, most importantly, to stay away from the infested trees. But it's worth noting that the pests are all over London – they arrived in 2006 when southern European oak trees were imported for a building project in Richmond, spreading across all 33 boroughs. Which is something to think about.
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