Who coined the nickname “larve from helvede”?

A Danish journalist appears to have popularised the nickname “larve from helvede” for the oak processionary moth, according to research by DR.

The phrase first appeared in a Fyens Stiftstidende article on 29 January 2025, headlined “Larven fra helvede er fundet i stort omfang i Odense”. The article attributed the nickname to the Danish Forest Association.

However, the association’s director, Anders Frandsen, told DR it was unclear whether the organisation had coined the term or adopted it from forestry jargon. “Unless someone disputes it, we’ll gladly take credit for this accurate, if unflattering, description,” he said.

Earlier, on 24 May 2019, JydskeVestkysten published an article referring to the caterpillar as “a kind of larve from helvede”. This predates the Danish Forest Association’s use of the term by over a month.

DR’s investigation found no definitive origin, though the nickname was not used in Odense Municipality’s initial press release about the caterpillar’s presence in the city.