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Saw a beautiful new white moth today....

Anna33Anna33 Posts: 316
in Wildlife gardening
....got very excited, looked it up, and it turned out to be a Box moth.

Gah!

I've only got the one box plant, which was picked up years ago as a sad GC bargain. Haven't ever done much to it other than occasional repotting, and watering it, but it seems to have survived this neglect and is still alive. Now I'll be checking it for caterpillars daily!

Posts

  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    One on my kitchen window yesterday morning. They are very attractive. I don't have any box so it's no problem to me and I just let it be. Ami supposed to kill it on others behalf? 🤔. Don't think I'll be doing that. 


  • Anna33Anna33 Posts: 316
    I wouldn't be able to kill it - apart from the illogical-ness of being too squeamish to kill something so beautiful (I bet crane flies have a much higher squish rate from humans), it's not its fault that it exists. I could kill the caterpillars (just) if I caught them and they were small enough, but not the adult.

    And if it's emerged, then hopefully the caterpillar-destructive phase has finished, so my (one) box plant is free for the time being.

    And @phi@philippasmith2 , it's true - joking aside, how do they find just the one plant that's basically hidden in a corner of a garden, given most of my neighbours don't particularly garden so there's very little else around?? They must have been flying over originally and just caught the scent of home on the breeze..... :)
  • greenlovegreenlove Posts: 164
    The only white moth (or is it a butterfly??) I have seen is this:

    A beautiful creature for sure.


  • Anna33Anna33 Posts: 316
    Beautiful! One of the plume moths, isn't it? The ones I get are all drab beige - nothing so ethereal as that!
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