American copper underwing
Amphipyra pyramidoides
The American copper underwing is a moth with dappled brown front wings. When it opens them, you can see back wings that glow copper orange. Its green caterpillar has a little hump near its back end.
Lives in
The United States and southern Canada, in woods and gardens
Wingspan
3.8 to 5.2 cm (1.5 to 2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The caterpillars eat leaves of many trees and bushes, like apple, maple, oak, walnut, raspberry and grape.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 1.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 24 seconds
How big is American copper underwing compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
American copper underwing about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It spends the winter as an egg and hatches in spring.
2
When the caterpillar is ready to become a pupa, it rolls a leaf into a little shelter.
3
In midsummer, groups of new moths hide together under tree bark.
4
The moths fly from July to October.
you asked
Most asked questions about American copper underwing
?What does the copper underwing eat?
Its caterpillars eat leaves of many trees and bushes, from apple to grape.
?How big is the American copper underwing?
Its wings are about 4 to 5 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Amphipyra pyramidoides
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Copper underwing
Where the facts come from
- Amphipyra pyramidoides (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 Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. CC BY 2.0, 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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