Heston

A nice pic of the caterpillar's face as the second image at Super-strength microscope produces stunning images | Mail Online

Thanks a lot for that - I find it reassuring. As I understand it most of the UK problem has been in solitary trees and parkland and in the oakland scrub that has developed next to railway and tube lines. I had thought that the big oaks and density of planting in Richmond Park around Star and Garter would have had been established long enough to have approximated a decent natural woodland - but I am probably wrong. Certainly London does have appalling air quality (and not getting better at any reasonable rate). Anyone got any news of the Pangbourne attack (where one might expect less pollution and more intact ecosytems) ?

I've been pleasnatly surprised that OPM hasn't spread to the 27 acre natural oak woodland at Perivale Wood owned by the Selborne Society - which is a mere ?1000m from the major infestation sites around Park Royal station. Untitled Document One of their people expressed confidence that the moths wouldn't get a look in with the density of birdlife in the wood............ (here's hoping)

quoted in "OPM article from Hort Week online" : As a European pest, the moth does have natural parasites. "With enough, they will stabilise the problem, but won't eliminate it," says Kuppen, adding that a beetle, the forest caterpillar hunter (Calosoma sycophanta) "is coming back to the Netherlands" in the moth's wake, along with parasitic larvae of tachinid flies. "Bats and birds will eat the caterpillars until L3 (a stage of the pest's life cycle, see box above). After that, they throw up." and googlebooks found an old description : Entomology: Beetles - Google Books and also a preview of a book The great gypsy moth war: the history of the first campaign in Massachusetts The great gypsy moth war: the ... - Google Books which includes an account of them importing Calosoma into the USA to attack gypsy moth around 1905. Interestingly, in view of the account from Holland that the rapid spread of OPM may be linked to caterpillars falling off trees onto trucks in laybys and then being speeded up around the country on motorways, I was intrigued that in Massachusetts they insisted that horse drawn wagons were sheeted over with canvas and they had gangs of guys at checkpoints to sweep the canvas clear of caterpillars before the wagon went over the boundary. Any volunteers to man all the intersections off the M25 ?