Hyphantria cunea in Italy
The fall web worm, Hyphantria cunea, is continuing its spread in Italy. It can now be found almost throughout the Po Valley and has been detected in Lombardy. For the moment the Appenine mountains appear to be limiting the spread but it is feared that the pest's facility for transport on road vehicles will soon surmount this barrier.
The damage caused at any new locality is always dramatic and alarming but the voracity of the pest subsequently decreases. Control is being performed with two or more applications of Bacillus thuringensis.
This outbreak shows many similarities to that in Hungary in the 1950's but the potential for spread is now greater because of the greater volume of traffic. In addition, a change of behaviour was observed in 1987 in that L1 larvae were found even at the end of September suggesting that an extra generation was in progress.
Sources
Dr K.V. Deseö, Centro di Fitofarmacia, University of Bologna (IT).