Caterpillars and Caterpillar control Sydney

A skin reaction commonly called Caterpillar dermatitis results from the penetration of the skin by particular types of hairs from some, but not all, of the caterpillars we describe as hairy.

Poisonous hairs usually exist in smaller numbers or segmentally arranged group is among the much longer general body hairs of the Caterpillar. Such fears are associated with a gland cell that produces the toxic principle. The most important feature is that their hair retains its properties of urtication when detached from the Caterpillar for a year or more.

Detached hairs occur in each cast skin of the success of moulds of the Caterpillar during its growth and the remains of the dead caterpillars. They are also, in some cases, woven into the cocoon formed by the Caterpillar for pupation. Some of the caterpillars concerned are communal so that masses of potentially urticarial material may occur in a bag shelter or under loose bark on a tree. The disintegration of such masses can give rise to airborne contamination.

Contact with caterpillars hairs can arise in several ways.

1. The living Caterpillar may be handled deliberately or accidentally or brushed against. This appears to be the least common type of contact in this country except with the slug moths.
2. Accidental handling of cast larval skins. This is most likely on tree trunks. The peeling of loose bark from a tree trunk is a compulsive act amongst some people, mostly but not necessarily young stop.
3. The immobile cocoons may be contacted when climbing a tree or handling stacked wood, old bags or grasses.
4. Clothing or bedding used in the open may become contaminated with hears which will produce reactions when subsequently used, even on repeated occasions.
5. Capital proximity to the source of mass infestation of caterpillars, especially after their skins are disintegrating, can contaminate the exposed skin. The sufferer may consider that he or she is always being bitten by something in a particular corner of the garden. The evidence for airborne carriage of the hairs or the fragments is very strong, and this is probably the most frequent phenomenon encountered.
6. Airborne hairs of some caterpillars have been known to lodge an eye where they may cause irritable conjunctivitis and corneal ulceration. Such ears can be recognised and removed by an eye specialist before they work their way into the eyeball's interior. Early attention is essential if more serious after-effects are to be avoided.

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