Move over spotted lanternfly — there's a new invasive insect in town. Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture announced that the "highly destructive" box tree moth, which originally hails from Asia, has officially entered the state.
The moth was spotted in two Erie County cemeteries, which are now quarantined. It has also appeared in Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Ontario, Canada.
The good news is, unlike the spotted lanternfly, which harms a wide range of plants, the box tree moth has only one victim: boxwoods, a non-native shrub commonly used for hedging and topiary.
"It's one of the most popular ornamentals," said entomologist Michael Skvarla, an assistant research professor at Penn State who runs their Insect Identification Laboratory. "So, yay — it's not going to hurt native ecosystems, but it is going to have a sizable impact because boxwood is so extremely popular all over the place."
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