Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Box Tree Moth - Kill or Cuddle?
I noticed this rather striking moth inside the house today.
Having looked it up on the web, I'm pretty sure it's a box tree moth. The RHS and other gardening websites seem pretty adamant that it's a pest. (Yup, you guessed it attacks box). Apparently it originates form Asia and only arrived in the UK in 2007 (they checked its passport stamps).
They'd have me kill it. It looks far too cute.
Tags for Forum Posts: moths
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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While your compassion is admirable, the impact of the caterpillars is devastating
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Definitely not cuddle...
Here’s Butterfly Conservation advice on dealing with it [pdf]
https://butterfly-conservation.org/files/bc-box-moth-advice-note-ju...
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I could be standing round the guillotine in revolutionary France hearing the crowds call off with his head.
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Depends if you have box hedge. I got rid of mine years ago so I wouldn’t be that bothered if I saw one in my garden. It’s our fault that these species migrate as we move plants around the world and their insect life comes with it. When they get to places where they have no natural predators then they become invasive. It’s up to us whether we become their “predator’ or not.
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Permalink Reply by Roger on
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... that depends on your views about "invasive" species... all life in the UK migrated here after the end of the last ice age 11,700 years ago...
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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You're right, Roger. Some of us have been trying to terminate it all ever since.
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Indeed, Roger, and one age’s lovely ornamental (Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed) is another age’s tabloid horror story. A conquering army may bring a lovely pot herb over that cures their gout which goes on to be the scourge of the modern gardener (ground elder),
No landscape is changeless and many beloved English species were introduced in the last 1000 years, so eventually the Box Tree Moth will be like the harlequin ladybird - tolerated, if not exactly loved. However, if you’re a topiary enthusiast you might feel less forgiving when its caterpillars strips your prize hedges.
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There's another one in the house tonight. Do we have a Harringay Box Moth plague?
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Found one sunbathing in the garden yesterday. It is no more.
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