14th August 2025

A handsome looking moth but a serious pest. This is a Box Tree Moth. This is not a native species but its larvae feed on Box which is a native shrub. Having said that, most of the Box bushes planted as topiary hedges, are imported to garden centres. This is almost certainly how the Box Tree moth arrived in the UK from China around 2007. Most Box bushes in Britain are now affected and many gardeners have given up and replaced them with an alternative shrub. Presumably, as fresh Box becomes scarcer, so will the moth-unless it adapts to a new food plant.

Box Tree Moth