Slugs and snails are traditionally the gardener’s worst foe but they have been knocked off the top spot for pests by an invasive hedge-eating caterpillar.
Last year was the first time in nearly a decade that slugs and snails were not top of the UK’s list of most troublesome pests, based on the number of enquiries received by the gardening advice team at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
The RHS said the title of top pest 2015 went to the box tree caterpillar, a native of East Asia that was first discovered in the UK in 2011 and which feeds vociferously on box plants under a blanket of pale fine webbing which can cover infected plants.
The pest - the larvae of the box tree moth - is now widespread in the home counties and is spreading across south-east England, the gardening experts said.
The Guardian: Invasive hedge-eating caterpillar tops UK garden pest poll
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