GreenlyBox tree moth: how to recognise and treat it
Pest
Symptoms
- Webbing and droppings over patches of box foliage.
- Leaves eaten or skeletonised; patches of the plant die back and can be stripped bare.
- Green-yellow caterpillars up to 4 cm long with thick black and thin white stripes.
- Bark stripped from stems, which can girdle and kill them.
Organic treatment
- Pick off the caterpillars by hand, or prune out infested shoots and bag them for disposal.
- Spray Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, which kills only the caterpillars and spares beneficial insects.
- Spray insect-killing nematodes, which have some effect on the caterpillars.
Chemical treatment
- Spinosad or a pyrethroid on the caterpillars, bearing in mind they also harm other insects; follow the label dose.
Reference information, not a guarantee. Read and follow the label of any product: dose, safety and the days to wait before harvest.
Prevention
- Inspect new box plants carefully before planting them.
- Hang a pheromone trap to spot the moths early.
- Check box plants often from spring to autumn; there are at least two generations a year.
Plants it affects
Sources
Figures checked against these sources.