MIAMI VALLEY — An invasive pest threatening one of the state’s most popular landscape plants has been detected in two more Miami Valley counties.
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The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) announced on Thursday that box tree moths have been found in four more Ohio counties, including Clark and Preble counties.
Previously, the invasive pests had been detected in Butler, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, and Warren counties.
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The box tree moth is from East Asia and poses a threat to boxwood plantings.
ODA said they would have plant health inspectors place traps and survey the new areas to determine the extent of the population.
The two other Ohio counties where the pests were recently found are Ashtabula and Cuyahoga counties.
The ODA said residents can look for and report any signs of infestation by:
- Familiarize yourself with the insect’s appearance and signs of damage on boxwood shrubs.
- Check any boxwood plants you have for signs of box tree moth life stages.
- If you find any signs of infestation, take a picture, and report it.
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