Some people have told Taipei City Councilor Kerr Chen that every year, as spring turns into summer, it is common for people to get sprayed with foul-smelling liquid by litchi giant shield bugs, which are in their breeding season at that time. The liquid causes skin allergy and inflammation, which can be very painful. Litchi giant shield bugs being an alien species, some people confuse them with red fire ants and mistakenly report them as such, but despite several such reports, the city government has been passive and not done much about it. It has therefore been suggested that they should issue a “shield bug warning” to inform the public.
The Taipei City Parks and Street Lights Office says that litchi giant shield bugs are an insect pest that has appeared in northern Taiwan in the last two years. They lay their eggs in April and May and are active between May and July. The office says that in future, when the bugs appear, it will put up public information notices to tell people where they are. During the bugs’ egg-laying season in April and May they will pick their egg clumps off trees and destroy them, or else remove the bugs by spraying the trees with water jets. In addition, for places that have experienced relatively heavy litchi giant shield bug infestations, the office will assess the extent of the damage to determine whether insecticide should be sprayed as a preventive measure.
Chang Chan-jung, director of the parks office’s Floriculture Experiment Center, reminds the public not to catch litchi giant shield bugs out of curiosity, so as to avoid getting burned by the liquid that they spray out of their stink glands to defend themselves. Chang also said that people need not be overly fearful of the bugs, they only need to refrain from frightening or provoking them. If people discover such bugs, they can immediately contact the parks office, which will send some of its staff to deal with it.(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Parks and Street Lights Office
照片：臺北市公園路燈工程管理處提供
有民眾向台北市議員陳重文陳情，每逢春夏季節交替之時，常遭正值繁殖期的荔枝椿象臭液噴到，造成皮膚過敏紅腫，疼痛不已。因荔枝椿象屬於外來種，還有人誤以為是紅火蟻而誤報，屢次向市府反映，市府卻消極以對。因此有人建議應發布「防疫警報」告知。
臺北市公園路燈工程管理處表示，荔枝椿象為近兩年出現在台灣北部地區的害蟲，產卵期為四至五月，活動期為五至七月；往後荔枝椿象出現時，會在出現地點張貼宣導文宣，並在四至五月間荔枝椿象產卵期摘除樹上卵塊銷毀或利用水柱沖刷移除蟲體。另外，針對荔枝椿象疫情較為嚴重地點，依照危害情形評估是否進行預防性噴藥防治。
公園處花卉試驗中心主任張栴榕提醒，民眾千萬不要因為一時好奇而捉捕荔枝椿象，以免遭到防禦性臭腺汁液灼傷；也不需要過於恐慌，只要不去驚擾牠。如有發現時，可即時通報公園處派員處理。(自由時報記者盧姮倩)
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