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Processionary caterpillars: with the warm weather, they came out three months early
9,027 municipalities in France, or almost one city in four, are classified at risk for processionary caterpillars. The caterpillars came out three months early in 2024, due to the mild weather. – (France 2)
9,027 municipalities in France, or almost one city in four, are classified at risk for processionary caterpillars. The caterpillars came out three months early in 2024, due to the mild weather.
Discreet, processionary caterpillars now colonize entire sections of forests. Originally from the Mediterranean, they have multiplied throughout France. Stinging and stinging, their proliferation is for many at the center of concerns. In Yvelines, their nests have invaded pine trees in recent years. The hunt begins for Daniel Vaugelade, volunteer at the Union for the Protection of the Harvest Loop. With the mild weather, the caterpillars came out in 2024 three months early.
The caterpillars have reached the majority of French departments
Since the end of the 1970s, caterpillars have spread to the majority of French departments. A progression which, according to specialists, is due to a simple reason. “We can reasonably associate this with the evolution of our climate. It is clearly associated with the months of January which are much warmer”, indicates Emmanuel Gachet, scientific coordinator of the expertise on pine processionary caterpillars. In December 2023, for the first time, the National Health Security Agency drew up a list of municipalities classified at risk. There are 9,027 of them, or almost one in four towns in France.
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