People friendly sea shores: everything you need to know about small animals and insects in Mallorca

Mallorca is an island.

This is probably the most important thing you need to know in terms of the insects and bugs here. All the information below is explained within the first sentence of the blog.

No snakes are found in Mallorca. Although it seems a perfect place for them to spend their time - stones, warm climate, no snow, dry clay soil - hadrly any snake has been brought to the island, that is why you won't find any. Please don't mix snakes with some types of lizards that may look alike.

Lizards are absolutely harmless here. They are scared of you even more than you can be scared of them. Some of them are nevertheless quite handy and you can even touch them. All in all, lizards in Mallorca are kind and nice animals.

Spiders. Nothing that you should be notified of: most of them are just regular spiders that carry no poison. You may be scared by the look of some of them, but you will be surprised how far they run should they notice your hand or feet getting closer to them.

Mosquitos. They can be annoying especially if you are in the area where the freshwater is close by. Mosquitos have their colonies where there are ponds, rivers, and small lakes. So if you are trying to get the house rental in Mallorca, look carefully for the presence of freshwater reservoires around. Especially in early autumn and late summer evenings they can be very annoying.

Ticks can be quite a problem especially in spring and late winter time when the nature awakens. Good tip here is to associate the color of the grass with the ticks presence: if you are in the period of the year when the grass is green and it smells like cat piss, ticks can be found so try to wear socks and longer pants. If you hear the firefly (in hot months), don't smell cat piss and the grass is burnt or pale green - no ticks are found. Ticks just like us don't enjoy being in the summer Mallorcan sun:)

Cockroaches. Mostly street living and hiding in the sewage pipes, they are harmless as they don't need neither you nor your food. They feed with the sewage leftovers and feel pretty good in warm humid atmosphere of the pipes. However, as it gets hotter they can tend to come out to breathe in some fresh air, so if you see them just avoid as still due to the location of their inhabitat they can transfer some unwanted diseases.

However, in our opinion the most dangerous insect in Mallorca are the pine caterpillars. They are not only extremely toxic to humans, but also can be quite harming to the trees they populate. You can find them as on the pine trees as near them on the ground. It is easy to identify them by the bright orange and brown hairs on their bodies. They are called processionary because they usually appear in big quantities and tend therefore to create a procession (or parade) when they appear. Please remember that if you have a dog, you should be extremely careful as sniffing the hairs of these caterpillars can be deadly to your animal.

By Ashlee Caliz, source: https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/holiday/life-style/2024/02/16/121315/processionary-caterpillars-mallorca.html

Long story short, Mallorca is an island. With caterpillars being its main problem historically due to populations of pine trees and almost no dangerous species on its beautiful grounds. So enjoy travelling around the island, be mindful with nature and you will not encounter any issues with Mallorcan fauna.