Box Tree Moth Caterpillars have become a growing problem for gardens in the UK. Our pheromone traps help to catch & kill the adult male moths. By catching males, mating & egg laying can be reduced & populations monitored for additional control measures.
Each trap is supplied with two pheromone lures, each lure is active for a minimum of 6 weeks. Although there are lures marketed to last all season, trials carried out by Dragonfli & the RHS at Hyde Hall gardens comparing box tree pheromone lure types showed the long life version caught far fewer moths than the standard lures, so in our opinion it is better to use standard box tree pheromone lures & replace about every six weeks to get maximum catch of the male box tree moths. It is also good practice to remove caught moths every six weeks.
The trap itself can be used for many years & replacement lures are available for additional coverage. If caterpillars develop a number of controls can be used together with pheromone traps to attack each part of the life cycle.
The moths lay pale yellow flat eggs that overlap each other in a flat sheet on the underside of leaves. The young larvae that hatch are greenish yellow with black heads. As the larvae/caterpillars mature the green body develops dark brown stripes & very mature larvae have thick black & thin white stripes down the body with large black dots outlined in white.