What's lurking in your Christmas tree? - PHOTO

Many people pride themselves in choosing the perfect decorations for their Christmas tree.But what they might not realise is it's not just their tinsel and candy canes hanging from the branches.Lurking amongst the baubles are an astonishing 25,000 creepy crawlies, including lice, mites, moths, springtails and the odd spider.The bugs usually hibernate for the winter but reawaken in warm living rooms when the trees are brought in from the cold.Bjarte Jordal, associate professor of the University Museum of Bergen in western Norway, said the insects believe spring has arrived and wake up.'There are a number of insects hiding in a Christmas tree,' he said.'Research on Christmas trees has found as many as 25,000 individual creepy crawlies live in some of the trees.'They hibernate for the winter and usually empty their bodies of fluids, produce a chilled liquid and become completely inactive.'But they reawaken when the tree is brought into the heat of the living room and it is all down to stimulus.'Upon feeling the heat and being awakened by the light, they believe that springtime has arrived and spring back to life.'If you pound the tree on a white cloth before you throw it out after Christmas, you will discover quite a number of small bugs.'According to Professor Jordal, people with severe allergies may react badly to a high number of mites in a tree.However, they mostly live inside the tree and, because they cannot feed on the limited plants found in households, they soon dry out and die.Professor Jordal said: 'The amount varies a lot. Some of it is down to pure coincidence and some of it is down to what type of tree it is.'The bugs are good at hiding and are invisible to the human eye, although one certainly should be able to spot the odd spider.'To get a proper look, you will have to get out a clean, white sheet and shake the tree.'According to the researchers, trees chopped down in woodlands will contain more bugs than firs bought from Christmas tree farms.This is particularly true of pine trees whereas juniper shrub has a fauna of its own.'I would recommend you get a locally grown hardwood tree as this is most likely to have a limited fauna,' said Professor Jordal.'But you should by no means clean or flush the tree free of bugs as this will damage the tree.'You need to take into consideration that there are plenty of insects and bugs in potted plants that are regular features in most households.'As we all know, these attract plenty of flies. It's no different with Christmas trees.'(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az