The box tree's enemy.

[sister_luck]

You are going to see pictures of a very pretty animal that is about to destroy our box tree.



This is the caterpillar of a box tree moth and its siblings have been defoliating my box tree. The box tree moth is a migrant from Asia and as it has no natural predators here (not yet, but there are reports that birds are catching on) it is considered a real pest.

I've been cutting off the worst parts of our smallish buxus and have been picking off the caterpillars by hand, throwing them in the bin and/or drowning them.

Also, I couldn't resist taking some pictures:



I've watched this specimen demolish a leaf in record time, shortly thereafter depositing a little bright green pellet of caterpillar shit.



(In the left-hand corner you can see a dried-out out-of-focus piece of larva faeces.)



In some of the pictures you can also see traces of the webbing under which they hide.

I hope I'll be able to get rid of them.