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March /April 2025
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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
INSITUTE, R/C OFFICES PARTNER TO STUDY BOX MOTHS
The invasive box tree moth is affecting boxwoods, a popular,
widely planted shrub on client properties in the Northeast
and Midwest regions of the United States. In the summer
of 2023, David Olson, technical advisor, Davey Institute,
received a call from Matthew Teague, sales arborist,
Rochester office, alerting him to discovering a damaged
boxwood shrub on a client's property.
"It turned out Matthew was the first one to find the
presence of box tree moths in Rochester, New York, after
we called the state to report it," said Olson. "That discovery
set off alarm bells for us, so we contacted R/C offices to
ask if they'd help us track the moths."
Olson worked with the Buffalo; Cincinnati; Hartney
Greymont, a Davey company, Cape Cod; North Detroit;
Rochester; and South Detroit Residential/Commercial
services offices to have them set traps with a pheromone
to attract male box tree moths. R/C services employees
monitored the traps by checking them once a week and
counted up the number of moths in the traps from April
to October 2024.
There were two to three moths found in the traps at the
Cincinnati office per week. Although it was a low catch
year overall due to the traps not being as strong as they'd
hoped, Olson also had the employees note any major
phenological events, meaning, what plants were blooming
at the time. Noting phenological events – in this case,
the plants blooming were catalpa and goldenrod – is a tool
that gives the Davey Institute the ability to advise on the
timing of when to expect certain pests.
Brian Sieber, district manager, Cincinnati office, said they
first noticed the moths in their area in the summer of
2023. In 2024, certain zip codes were at an explosive stage.
He said they were seeing the box tree moth lifecycle of
three generations in one year compared to other invasive
species, like the leaf miner, with only one lifecycle
generation per year.
"The moth's caterpillars are super destructive to boxwoods,"
Sieber said. "What's great about working with our technical
advisors at the Institute is they help keep us ahead of
infestations, as well as keeping us well-educated on the
subject matter, which puts us ahead of the game and helps
us retain clients."
Olson added that offices can follow phenological indicators
for treatment timing, coupled with an early visit to clients'
properties, to inspect shrubs and recommend treatments
as necessary.
EXPERTISE
Left: Pictured is the first boxwood shrub found in Rochester, New
York, that had been damaged by box tree moths. This damaged shrub
was discovered by Matthew Teague, sales arborist, Rochester office,
who sent the photo to David Olson, technical advisor, Davey Institute.
Center: The box tree moth, an invasive pest native to East Asia, was
confirmed to be present in New York, in 2021, and has since spread
to other Northeast and Midwest states in the U.S., according to
aphis.usda.gov.
Right: The caterpillars of box tree moths can infest and defoliate
boxwood plants.
