Microsporidia as natural enemies of oak processionary moth in the oak forests of Lower Austria

Since the late 1990s, the oak processionary moth, Thaumetopoea processionea, has been occurring at outbreak levels in eastern and south-eastern Austria. More important than their feeding damage on the oaks is the health hazard for people when they come in contact with the poisonous hairs of the caterpillars. Our project studies entomopathogenic microsporidia as potential bio-control agents for this pest insect. Larval populations of T. processionea in the federal state of Lower Austria will be screened for infections with microsporidia. The intracellular parasites will be isolated from infected larvae. The pathology of the infection will be studied; the microsporidium will be characterized. Our goal is to identify microsporidia from T. processionea that are promising candidates for biological control of this insect.