Caterpillars, caterpillars everywhere

VietNamNet Bridge – Over the past ten days, people in Ta Thi Ngoc Thao residential area, District 7, HCM City have been suffering itchiness caused by a caterpillar epidemic. Scientists say the caterpillar epidemic is a sign of a polluted environment.

A local resident, Nguyen Van Dung, said trees in this region have lost all of their leaves because of caterpillars. Caterpillars are everywhere, on the road, in houses and beds.

“Caterpillar hairs floats in the air and makes people itch,” Dung said.

Three days ago, local people burnt trees and grass around their houses, hoping to kill caterpillars but a short time later, caterpillars again swarmed over nearby grassplots, walls and roads.

Doctor of biology Hoang Duc Huy at the HCM City University of Natural Sciences said caterpillars live for around one month before becoming pupas and butterflies. The boom of caterpillars suggests the reduction of the woodpecker, the caterpillar’s natural enemy.

Huong Cat