Natural Controls
The Pine Processionary is an economic pest in coniferous forests in southern Europe. It is controlled to some extent by predators, parasites and viruses which attack the moth at different stages of its life-cycle:
- Eggs may be eaten by the orthopteran Ephippiger ephippiger.
- Larvae may be eaten by birds such as Great Tit (Parus major) and Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius).
- Larvae may be parasitised by solitary wasps (Ichneumonidae, Braconidae) and some species of horse-fly (Tachinidae).
- Pupae may be eaten by Hoopoes (Upupa epops).
- Adults may be eaten by bats.
- Larvae may be infected by the processionary moth virus Smithiavirus pityocampae.
Read more about this topic: Pine Processionary
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