A seller of sugar cane sap, Umar (43), in front of the mosque said Monday the intensively hairy caterpillars have started perching on the trees since last week, nobody knew where they came from.
The caterpillars are crawling and creeping in the big mahogany tree right in front of the mosque.
Everybody, especially women, passing below the tree and noticing the thousands of horribly looking caterpillars up in the tree is immediately leaving the location.
People are very afraid of the tiny animals because they caused serious itching, he said.
He therefore asked the Medan administration authorities to spray strong insecticides and hopefully destroyed the caterpillars.
Left alone, the caterpillars may spread to other areas of Medan city.
He also said that the caterpillars on the big tree are quite different from those which had attacked Probolinggo.
"Those in Probolinggo were slightly bigger with thicker hair," he said.
H-NG/S012
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
