Moth ‘plague’ threat to crops

A ‘BIBLICAL plague’ of voracious moths that strip plants bare has begun invading Britain from the Continent.

Tens of millions of diamondback moths have already arrived, with millions more expected, in a swarm estimated to be 100 times bigger than in previous years.

The moths, pictured, which can fly up to 600 miles a day, could have a devastating effect on cabbages and other vegetables.

A female lays up to 188 on a plant, and a few days later the larvae eat all the leaves.

The warning came from the Rothamsted Research institute, which reported a twomile cloud of moths on Saturday night at Leominster, Herefordshire.

Steve Nash, of the institute in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, said: ‘Once the progeny of this influx arrives in mid- July, numbers could be biblical.’

His colleague Dr Steve Foster added: ‘There are swarms of them, like plagues of locusts. They seem like a brown cloud.’

The institute is trying to find an insecticide to kill the moths. But if none can be found, Dr Foster said cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and oilseed rape could be devastated, adding: ‘If you haven’t got anything available... they are going to destroy crops.’