Oak processionary experiment with bird houses for the great tit has been carried out since 2016. It has been observed that the great tit likes to eat the young, not yet hairy caterpillars in the month of April. In serious cases of contamination, the use of relatively mild chemical pest killers has been allowed by local authorities. Because chemicals may be harmful to other insects, an alternative is the use of vacuuming equipment to remove the caterpillars, followed by incinerating the caught specimens. Oak processionary The oak processionary "(Thaumetopoea processionea)" is a moth whose caterpillars can be found in oak forests. They
Oak processionary UK. The eggs arrived on oak imported to the Richmond and Ealing areas of London in 2006 and the range of the species in the UK has been steadily expanding despite efforts to eradicate it. The wingspan of adult stage moths is between . Their pattern of tan, brown and white make the adults difficult to see against oak bark. Adults fly during July and August. The larvae construct communal nests of white silk from which they crawl at night in single file, head to tail in large processions to feed on foliage in the crowns of trees, returning in