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An invasive pest has landed in Michigan, according to MLive.
Agriculture officials announced on November 7 the state's first wild detection of the box tree moth was found in a Lenawee County backyard. The moth, which is an invasive species native to Asia, was found in a neighborhood near Church Street and Sunset Drive in Clinton, an Irish Hills village in southeast Michigan.
While the moth doesn't pose a threat to the state's natural resources, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development asked residents to remain vigilant nonetheless.
“We need people to go outside into their yard, look at their boxwood trees and see if there’s symptoms of defoliation,” said Robin Rosenbaum, plant health section manager in the plant pest division at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). “Skeletonized leaves or webbing is a really distinct characteristic of this pest.”
If looks suspect, “we’ll go take a look,” Rosenbaum said.
As for how the moth made its way to Michigan, Rosenbaum is concerned that the insect came from Canada.
“I don’t think we have any doubt this came from Canada, one way or another,” Rosenbaum said. “It either came over here naturally or shipped over here on infested stock.”