Caterpillar infestation: Popular walking path is closed - warning of allergic reactions

Created: 05/17/2022, 06:00

By: Magnus Reitinger

Transit and passage prohibited currently applies to the Dietlhofer Seeweg as an extension of the Römerstraße.

© Reitinger

The Dietlhofer Seeweg in Weilheim is closed until further notice.

Because an oak tree on the popular cycle and walking path is full of gold aphrodisiacs that can trigger allergic reactions.

Weilheim – The little street that leads cyclists and pedestrians to Dietlhofer See as an extension of the Römerstraße has not been allowed to be driven on or walked on for a few days.

The reason: A heavy caterpillar infestation was found on a tree there - namely by the goldfinch, a species of sluggish spider whose caterpillar hair and pupa webs can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions.

The caterpillars that infested the oak along the path are most likely goldfinch.

© Stadtwerke Weilheim

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Last week, a citizen pointed out the many caterpillars on the large oak tree, which is about 200 meters out of town after the vocational school and under which there is also a bench.

Tree inspectors then took a closer look at the almost bare oak tree, reported Sebastian Soyer, the deputy depot manager, at the request of our newspaper on Monday.

Whether the caterpillars are Goldafters is "not 100% certain", but very likely.

A response from the Bavarian State Institute for Forestry and Forestry (LWF), which was sent pictures of it, is still pending.

"You don't have to challenge it"

The municipal company immediately removed the planks of the bench under the oak tree, and the city blocked the road.

"Purely a safety measure," says Soyer, because the branches of the oak tower right across the path, and caterpillars could fall from them on passers-by - which could then cause skin irritation. "You don't have to challenge it," says the depot deputy .

Because the caterpillars on the tree now lack "the basic nutritional basis", he assumes that the problem will be solved within a few days and that the path will be reopened next week at the latest.

The caterpillar species found is "definitely not" the dreaded, "even more aggressive" oak processionary moth, Soyer reassured.

A similar infestation by Goldafter was found in Weilheim a few years ago, but the public utilities and the city are not aware of any further details.

Infestation is probably a result of climate change

According to the LWF, the Goldafter performed in 2001 "in Franconia, Swabia and Lower Bavaria in large numbers" and since then "repeatedly attracted attention locally, sometimes also regionally".

In the Franconian Jura, the caterpillars ate a sycamore avenue bare in 2009, and community workers there complained of skin irritation and allergic reactions after mowing.

In our region, the Goldafter is rather unknown.

"On record" is a strong infestation in 2020/21 in Anzing near Ebersberg.

One explanation there is that the population does not die off due to the warm winters caused by climate change.