Box Tree Moth – a relative newcomer

With the recent hot weather our windows and doors have been open in the evening and so more insects than usual have appeared. I’m not one who can identify insects (my grandfather was the entomologist) but this one looked pretty and I thought I would be able to identify it. Out came the Butterfly and Moth book but nothing looked like it, so google was brought into play. The search brought ip the box tree moth, which wasn in the book because the book was printed in 1980 and the moth was first seen in the uk in 2008. Reported it to the RHS as the y are monitoring it because of its impact upon box. We don’t have any box in our garden (or nearby as far as I know) so its obviously travelled a distance.

Its pretty but an invasive species which is causing problems. Can’t do much about it.

Box Tree Moth
Published
Categorised as Nature