The Box Moth – food, sex and death
by Angus, 24 October, 2018, 2 comments
The box moth has recently been ravaging the box hedges of Britain. Box hedges are like jam sandwiches to these hungry caterpillars and they are making gardens and woodlands unsightly and in some places they are putting at risk the survival of traditional hedging. Surprising as it may seem, there is an organisation dedicated to promoting boxwood - the European Boxwood and Topiary Society which celebrates and protects ornamental gardens across Europe.
Box Moths (Cydalima perspectalis) come in two forms - the common variant and the darker melanic variant. Like most animals, their main activities are eating and sex. The eating is mainly done by the caterpillars which eat the box leaves and create a trail of cobwebs and leaf pellets - part of an affected box bush is shown below :- Read more...
