Bothersome Bugs
Insect Invasions from Paris to the Languedoc
FLORA AND FAUNA AND THE FOREST WORLDCLIMATE CHANGE SEASONS
Joan
10/8/20233 min read
What makes some insects adorable , and others a bane? Three or four years ago I found a beautiful moth in our bedroom. It was pearlescent white, while its wings were edged with a beautiful coffee coloured band. I hadn't seen one like this before. It seemed sick and frail, so I cradled it in my hand and selected a plant outside where it could recover. By the end of that year, I loathed these delicate insects with a vengeance. For I had discovered the pyrale( or box tree moth.) It is an Asian species that probably came to Europe via exported garden hedging. The first ones were spotted around 2007 . In the interim years it has not only killed all our boxwood, the caterpillars have woven their choking webs and eaten their way throughout the region. The causses, that were once resplendent with fine box wood trees, now look desolate. How can one love such a beautiful creature when it can cause such damage? Its numbers are its downfall.
Please don't get me wrong. insects are still welcome here, from the fascinating dragonflies that are currently performing aerial acrobatics in pairs around our pool, to the chirruping cricket, the magnificent stag beetle and the grasshoppers that fly ahead of us as we walk through the long grass, revealing blue or crimson wings .
The bugs that we dread are the ones that want to invade our home. Autumn is the worst time for this as they are looking for somewhere to hibernate. I have already described the leptiglossus occidentalis , a stink bug , in an earlier blog. Commonly known here as the punaise americaine, it arrived in Europe earlier this century in a shipment of timber from California. For many years now this noisome bug has tried to inveigle its way in to spend winter with us. They are still around, but their numbers have diminished, as they have become preyed upon. . Unfortunately they have been replaced by a new kind of stink bug who is determined to occupy our home. Until now I have found these little bugs rather charming as they scuttle along on their little legs. No longer! This year they are threatening to overrun us. Local neighbours tell us that they are overrun too, and call them punaises diaboliques. They are literally everywhere. We are on our guard!
But we are not alone . City dwellers in Paris and Marseille have reported infestations of bed bugs which lurk in transport seats and hotel mattresses. Is this a serious problem or is much of this media hype? Nevertheless the Minister for Health has announced a list of approved bug exterminators who will be ready to deal with infestations. It is alarming, as Paris is currently hosting the World Rugby Cup, and will also host next year's Olympic games. They fear that these bed bugs will be carried back to the visitors' own countries. But then globalisation has caused this kind of problem in the first place. But help! As luck would have it we shall be joining a family reunion in Paris shortly. A relative has indicated her concern over bed bugs, in spite of the fact that she is coming from Africa where bugs are not uncommon. Who would have believed that such small creatures could cause so much distress.
