Box-Tree Moth caterpillars - gardeners be warned!

Polly and Andy M recently noticed some brown patches on their Box bushes in the garden. Closer inspection revealed a number of rather beautiful, but also rather troubling, Box-Tree Moth caterpillars (Cydalima perspectalis), busily munching their way through the inside of the bushes.  Several specimens were removed for closer inspection!

A recent accidental introduction from south-east Asia, the Box-Tree Moth was first seen in the UK in Kent around ten years ago, and is now well-established in south-east and across southern England.  The RHS has established a survey to record its understand its spread.(https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=760.)