Increased infestations by Box Tree Moths
It is being reported that the Asian box tree caterpillar Diaphania perspectalis (also known as Cydalima perspectalis) is spreading more rapidly than previously. The RHS is quoted in The Times as having recorded as many incidents this year as all the sightings since 2011 put together. These infestations were in discovered in May this year in Woodford & Loughton in the east of London and also Stoke Poges near Slough. The first sightings of this latest pest was in 2008 in some Buckinghamshire gardens.
The caterpillar lays pale yellow eggs under the box leaves and when these hatch the greenish yellow caterpillars eats the leaves and a cobwebbing trail in it’s wake. After this distruction it transforms into a white semi-transparent moth which repeats the process by laying more eggs.