Can anyone tell me what areas these are found? Specifically are they common in Galicia

You want to find some??Pine Processionary Caterpillar Thaumetopoea pityocampa best avoided, very dangerous ,can cause serious respitory problems ,if you have kids teach them to give them a wide berth, some town halls will send out pest control FOC to get rid of the little gits,

Rgds

Rotor

They are found mainly in southern Europe but it depends on the winter climate. They are almost certainly found across the whole of Spain and so far have got as far as Paris as the European climate warms up.

Link in Free Beer.

They are very dangerous to dogs too, so if you have them avoid taking them out into the campo when they are around. Ingestion can kill them. There are certain months when they appear in their thousands.Do a web search and have a look. Nasty!!!

The hairs are the problem and cause a reaction like anaphylactic shock. If you do see one, don't touch it. Get a blowlamp and burn it to a crisp, as that is the only way to make it safe.

(Don't set the whole damn campo alight in the process tho.....)

Have a look on this page . With regards Thaumetopoea pityocampa as my old latin master would say. I think they cover most things about them. Mostly found in Catalonia. Some fantastic Pics

http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/fitzg...essionary.html

Interesting article. I saw this phrase 'sting with urticating hairs' - so now I know why the stinging nettle has the Latin name 'Urtica dioeca'.

Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinis alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!
Answer in due course

If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin!

Sorry, forum for enlish onloy.. enuff of this foreign

We are in Sevilla East a long way from Catalonia and this year there were thousands in the campo. They even ventured into the local park.

Are they a problem in the Cadiz region?

My favourite Latin motto was 'Semper in excreta, sumus solo profundum variat'

Always in the you-know-what, only the depth varies.

(If anyone proficient in Latin can correct any errors, I'd be obliged. I'm not 100% certain of the accuracy!)

Thanks all. It was the link in Free Beer that prompted the question. They sound awful and we have three dogs, a cat and heaven knows what else when we finally land.
I just wondered, as Galicia is both colder and certainly much wetter, whether they were lesss common, or hopefully well nigh non existent.

We had them last year for the first time. This year they were back in increasing numbers! Very nasty. You don't actually have to touch them to come out in a rash as the hairs blow around in the wind and hang around for ages.

They came out earlier this year, end of Jan and took us by surprise. Eventually we had pest control out to spray the trees and I just wish we'd done it sooner. It didn't get rid of all the stray hairs of course but the problem improved greatly. They also put sticky bands around the trees to stop any strays crawling down but these have pretty much come off in the wind.

We expect to have to have to spray the trees every year, but its worth every penny.

I have two dogs which is very worrying but thankfully they seem to have an inbuilt aversion to them and don't go near them. I have heard some awful tales of dogs that have had to have chunks of their tongues removed or have died horrible deaths.

I have had some very nasty rashes and my gardener needed to visit casualty one time, his rash was so bad. Just sweeping the terrace is a dangerous occupation!

I would strongly advise anyone who has these to call pest control immediately to deal with the nests before the problem gets out of control. Killing them once they are out of the tree won't eliminate the problem. If they are not dealt with, they will eventually kill off the trees too.