Invasive box tree moths detected in Virginia for first time

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Agency inspectors with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have found the box tree moth in Virginia, marking the first-ever generation of the insect in the Commonwealth.

The aggressive feeders have also been detected in Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Virginia currently has the southernmost population of box tree moths in the U.S., according to David Gianino, plant industry services program manager with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"It can survive New York winters and it has about two generations a year in New York," he said. "And so the theory right now is that it only is more thriving the farther south that it moves. And scientists at the USDA are suggesting that