Fighting the box tree moth is actually an impossible task, as Rik Wever of De Vlinderstichting also knows. “In any case, you should not use poison,” says the expert. “Then you also kill other insects, such as bees and ladybugs.” According to him, biological agents are also not an option: “All types of caterpillars die, so also species that are not harmful, the advice of the Butterfly Foundation is: do not use”.
According to Wever, only one remedy is really effective: replacing the boxwood with a shrub that is not susceptible to damage. “You can also remove the caterpillars and pupae from the boxwood bush by hand to limit the damage, but that is a lot of work,” says Wever.
And then there are also real traps to catch the box tree moth. These are so-called pheromone traps that attract the males. They fall into the trap and can therefore not reproduce.
See below the garden of the Drents Museum completely destroyed by the box tree moth in 2020. Text continues afterwards.