ODA takes action to contain box tree moth Submitted story Matteo Maspero and Andrea Tantardini This is a box tree moth. Matteo Maspero and Andrea Tantardini The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has identified the box tree moth (cydalima perspectalis) in the United States. This is the first detection of this invasive species in the nation. The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) was made aware that potentially infested boxwood plants were shipped to several Ohio nurseries and greenhouses from a supplier in Canada between August 2020 and April 2021. The ODA responded to the Ohio facilities that received these plants, immediately stopped the sale of boxwood, and is working with the close cooperation of the facilities to destroy all of the high-risk plants from these shipments.