More on box moths

Re.. Jane's Box moth invasion... We have got exactly the same thing going on up here on the causse, everything with nectar is covered in the box moth. I have a theory... They're filling themselves up with energy for take off at dusk in the direction of box bushes to lay their eggs on. I drove a friend back down to St Antonin the other night & the air was full of these moths whereas they're very flower based during the day. We rooted out our box hedge here about 4 years ago & burnt it, a lot was still green but it was covered with caterpillars.
I read that the insecticide spray that some people are using is fatal to any caterpillar that comes into contact with it so one may want to think extremely carefully before using it as other species than box moth could be affected. At 3 hatches of moths/caterpillars per season it's probably best to uproot or cut down your box, I was told they like cotoneaster as well but have no proof. Laura
comments to taglines82@gmail.com