Saturday, April 16, 2011

Caterpillars Invasion

The District of Probolinggo in East Java is popularly known as the producer of Mango fruit.

Since March, millions of hairy Caterpillars have cropped up in at least five sub-districts in Probolinggo, invading fields and homes destroying more than 8,800 Mango trees and causing itchy rashes among residents.

Though the phenomenon is centered largely in Probolinggo smaller reported outbreaks in Madiun, East Java; Kendal, Central Java; Yogyakarta; Buleleng, Bali, Sumedang, Subang and Bekasi, West Java; and most recently West Jakarta, have prompted fears of a widespread infestation.

Unpredictable weather together with a decline in natural predators of Caterpillars is blamed to be responsible for the plague of caterpillars in parts of the country. 

But an entomologist at the Bogor Institute of Agricultural (IPB) says there is no connection between the outbreaks in Probolinggo and those in the other areas. He said that there are at least 120,000 types of caterpillars in the world, so those found in Bekasi and Probolinggo would be different from each other.

Health Minister Endang Sedyaningsih on Thursday said that the government would offer free treatment to anyone suffering ailments as a result of the Caterpillar outbreak.

She further said that the hairy Caterpillars mainly caused skin irritations. She advised anyone coming in contact with the creepy crawlies to first wash their skin to get rid of any Caterpillar hairs. If the itchiness doesn't go away, people can then go to a local health clinic.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

In some countries they have locusts, grasshoppers and other insects.

colson said...

Have the natural predators of these caterpillars been killed by disproportional amounts of insecticides and pesticides?

smp 3 lembang said...

we are very suprised with this phenomenom not only in JAVA but also in sumatera and sulawesi now we can found caterpillars invasion

Bengkalis said...

Gak Ngertiii T,T

triesti said...

we use way too much pesticides. and about to use some more to get rid of caterpillar..

attayaya-mading said...

suatu musibah akibat ketidakseimbangan alam

semoga masyarakat terkena dampak dapat ditolong dan bersabar hati

Setyo-Utomo Said said...

Mas Harry, we should learn more about life and natural environment !

Komodo Island is the NEW 7 Wonders of The World said...

Indonesia's president only can say "prihatin"

NTRage03 said...

setuju ma bengkalis :D

Software House Production said...

dunia saat ini sedang krisis apaun. Termasuk alam juga. Salam kenal...mas

Unknown said...

@Peter/Kiwi,
Insects in different countries
seems to give reactions to human's mistreatment to nature.

@Colson,
That's oen of the reason, there are others a.o change from various types of plants to just one type. For example the Mango plantations in Probilonggo has been attacked before.

@Smp3lembang.
Yes this is a surprising natural phenemenon.

@Aneka Remaja,
Thank you.

@Bengkalis,
Ini tentang fenomena ulat bulu.

@Triesti,
Yes that's part of the reason.

@Attayaya-Mading,
Semogo dapat ditemukan cara efektif yang tidak merusak alam.

@Utomo,
I agree with you Pak.

@Komodo,
Let us hope there will be improvement.

@Aciid,
Ini tentang fenomena ulat bulu.

@Software,
Saya sependapat dengan anda.
Salam kenal juga, terima kasih.

Anonymous said...

Moga kekuatan pertanian kita tidak tergoyahkan.

Unknown said...

Cucuharis,
Benar, semoga tidak berpengaruh banyak pada pertanian kita.

attayaya-mading said...

semoga bencana ini dapat segera berlalu dan memberi sebuah hikmah kepada semua orang

Suke Jakarta said...

nasib indonesa nehhh,
anyway themenya berat bangeeet...

Unknown said...

@Attayaya-Mading,
Semoga segera ditemukan solusi yang aman bagi manusia dan alam.

@Suke Jakarta,
Mudah mudahan akan berubah.

Meutia Halida Khairani said...

according to this invasion, for the good effect, almost everyday i see the cute picture of caterpillar. but the invansion is troubling..

Unknown said...

Hi Meutia,
Actually the caterpillar will soon metaphor into butterfly, but the problem is that before that time come it will be scaring people.

r10 said...

ulat bulu kehilangan predatornya, burung hantu misalnya sudah jarang terlihat