Reminder – Put out your traps
Having had a relatively normal spring, at least as far as the weather is concerned, the box tree caterpillars are now full grown and starting to move to the pupae stage. This lasts about a week to ten days before the adult moth emerges and starts laying the first batch of eggs of the year.
Whilst the pheromone traps aren’t able to control the male moth population to any great degree, they are extremely useful for indicating when the females are likely to start laying eggs.
If you haven’t got a trap and you are in an area where box tree moths and caterpillars have been sighted, it’s not too late to order one online. Greengardener.co.uk sells the full season lures with their traps which means there is one less thing to remember to replace between May and November. A few people have asked whether they can be used in existing traps and the good news is yes, you just need to use either the supplied cable tie or my recommendation is to use a freezer bag tie.
Here are some useful EBTS UK YouTube videos.