The invasive box tree moth has been spotted in more parts of Ohio, prompting the state to widen a quarantine to include Preble and Clark counties.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture expanded the limits of its quarantine for Box Tree Moths on Jan. 30.
This comes two and a half years after the first detection of the invasive and damaging insect near the border of Hamilton and Clermont counties.
"Our previous counties that we had in that quarantine were Miami, Montgomery, Greene Butler, Claremont, Hamilton, and Warren," said Brian Baldridge, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The expanded quarantine zones were made to include areas where the moths were sighted between May and October of last year, Baldridge said.
Ohio has more than 600 nurseries across the state, many of which reside in quarantined counties.
“I don't think it'll ever go back to the way it was and I think the nurseries are probably more suited to be able to control the pest. I think where the education has to come is with the homeowner."
Baldridge said the ODA is placing these preventative measures to not only protect boxwood shrubs across the state, but those nurseries who provide a major economic footprint for Ohio's ag sector.
“That total inventory is about $200 million and then when we dive in and really look at details as far as retail sales a year, it's about $12 to $15 million per year," he said.
Local Response
One of the region's larger nurseries that is within the expanded quarantine zone is the Ohio Nursery Exchange. It sells ornamental shrubs, shade trees and evergreens to clients across Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Indiana.
Last year, the Clark County business started to invest between $7,000 to $10,000 to become “quarantine compliant” due to its land bordering the existing quarantine in Miami County.
Operations Manager Bill Rudy said those preventative measures included training staff on moth identification, placing pheromone traps and doing close inspections and spraying plants before shipment.
"I've got two, three-inch, three-ring binders from just last year of paperwork that goes into documenting every step we're taking to make sure that all material leaving here is free of the box tree moth," he said.
As of the first week of February, the Ohio Nursery Exchange has not detected any box tree moth larvae. Rudy said it can be hard to detect larvae in its early stages, warning boxwood owners to dig deeper into their plants for evidence of the insect.
"One of the problems is that they'll eat from the inside out. So if you're not looking down into the plant, you don't notice it," he said. "That's what happened south of Dayton this summer, all of a sudden everybody said, 'Oh, my boxwood are dead overnight.'"
Looking Ahead
As the quarantine continues across the state, Rudy encourages everyone to educate themselves on identifying the destructive pests and finding local resources to treat for the infestation.
“I don't think it'll ever go back to the way it was and I think the nurseries are probably more suited to be able to control the pest," he said. "I think where the education has to come is with the homeowner."
During his own research on the invasive species from East Asia, Rudy said he discovered research being done through OSU Extension on the possibility of parasitic wasps depleting box tree moth populations.
"They've been attacking the caterpillars so hopefully maybe nature can say 'Wow, I really like this food source that's never been here before,'" he said.
According to Baldridge, the ODA is always researching new ways to respond to invasive species in an effort to protect Ohio's resources.
Box tree moth sightings can be reported online to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
"That triggers our Plant Health Division so we can go out and do investigations and be able to really identify to make sure we're tracking what is going on," said Baldridge.
