Southern purple mint moth
Pyrausta laticlavia
The southern purple mint moth is a tiny moth from the southern United States. It is only a little bigger than your fingernail. It has been moving north into new places in California.
Lives in
Southern United States, from New Jersey to Florida, Texas and California
Wingspan
1.7 cm (0.67 in)
aboutCan it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars have been raised on rosemary, a plant from the mint family.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 42 seconds
How big is Southern purple mint moth 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)
Southern purple mint moth about 9.1 km/h (5.7 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
In 1990 it reached the San Francisco Bay area, and in 1993 the Sacramento Valley.
2
It flies from June to August, depending on where it lives.
3
Its caterpillars can grow up on rosemary.
you asked
Most asked questions about Southern purple mint moth
?How big is the southern purple mint moth?
Its wings measure only about 17 millimetres from tip to tip.
?What does the southern purple mint moth eat?
Its caterpillars have been raised on rosemary.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pyrausta laticlavia
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Crambidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Crambidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Pyrausta laticlavia (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 Mike Boone. CC BY-SA 2.5, 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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