Mother of pearl
Patania ruralis
The mother of pearl is a pale moth with wings that are almost see-through. When light hits them from the side, they shine with a soft blue, pearly glow. Its caterpillar lives on stinging nettles.
Lives in
Almost all of Europe, in gardens, hedges and nettle patches
Wingspan
2.6 to 4 cm (1 to 1.6 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillar eats mostly stinging nettles, and sometimes hops and goosefoot.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Mother of pearl compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Mother of pearl about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its name comes from the pearly shine of its wings, like the inside of a sea shell.
2
Its caterpillar can curl up and roll away to escape.
3
Scientists copied the rolling caterpillar to build robots that can roll.
4
It flies from June to September.
you asked
Most asked questions about Mother of pearl
?Why is it called mother of pearl?
Its wings shine with a pale blue pearly glow, like the inside of a shell.
?What does the mother of pearl caterpillar eat?
Mostly stinging nettles.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Patania ruralis
- Named by
- Scopoli, 1763
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Crambidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Crambidae
- Lives on
- Europe
- Also known as
- Mother of pearl moth
Where the facts come from
- Patania ruralis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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