Box Tree Moth Demystified

Jennifer Gray • May 20, 2024

Are you seeking to fortify your expertise in identifying and managing Boxwood Tree Moth (BTM)? Watch the recording for an in-depth webinar focused on the nuances of BTM identification, lookalikes, controls, trapping, and scouting.

Understanding Box Tree Moth

Delve into the essential aspects of identifying BTM, covering its life stages, signs, symptoms, and life cycle dynamics. Gain invaluable insights into the impact of multiple generations, ensuring you're equipped to tackle BTM infestations effectively.

Is It BTM...or Something Else?

This session will equip you with the expertise to effectively separate BTM from pests like boxwood leafminer, diseases such as Volutella blight/canker, and physiological issues like winter injury. Learn how to compare and contrast these problems to enhance your ability to detect and manage BTM infestations efficiently.

Proposed BTM Control Tactics

This presentation covers research on testing insecticides to control BTM in both lab and field settings. Attendees will discover effective chemical tactics for reducing BTM infestations, along with the conditions for optimal application. It also includes updates on an area-wide mating disruption project using sex pheromones and Bt applications to manage BTM in urban/suburban areas, including field observations and population dynamics.

BTM Trapping and Scouting Techniques

Detecting BTM through adult trapping and field scouting is crucial for containment. This presentation will discuss the use of sex pheromone traps and adult phenology. It will also share field scouting observations, including where to find egg masses and immature phenology, along with the methodology for BTM field scouting.

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Bee Banquet in the Sky: Trees and Shrubs for Urban Pollinator Conservation

By Jennifer Gray • October 12, 2026

Urban landscapes can be important refuges for native bees and other pollinators. This talk covers why bees are critical for biodiversity and food security, why bee populations are declining, and how the gardening public can help by incorporating woody landscape plants to provide nectar, pollen, nesting sites and materials, and other resources. Following a brief overview of pollination ecology, we’ll “meet the bees”, and then discuss recent HRI-funded research that identified top native and non-native “bee magnets” amongst woody ornamental plants. The talk also explains why artificial bee “hotels” can become death traps and suggests better ways to create bee nesting sites through ordinary gardening practices. Attendees will receive PDF handouts and other information helpful for teaching others about the best trees and shrubs for bee conservation.

A Biological Plot Twist: Can an Adventive Parasitoid Protect Boxwood?

By Jen Gray • August 12, 2026

CABI and USDA APHIS are collaborating on the biological control of the box tree moth using parasitoids from Asia. Several parasitoid species are currently under consideration for introduction into North America and Europe. One of these parasitoids arrived in Europe on its own and has begun controlling the moth on both planted trees and in wild boxwood stands. The webinar will describe the spread and impact of this adventive parasitoid in Europe and present efforts to assess the potential of this species and others as biological control agents in North America.

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By Jennifer Gray • June 30, 2026

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