Bug card No. 0025 of 1,500

American dagger moth

Acronicta americana

Eats: Plants MothsForests and woods6 legs

The American dagger moth is a grey moth with a little black dash on each front wing. Its caterpillar is the real star: it is big, fluffy and covered in pale yellow or white hairs, with a few long black tufts sticking out.

Lives in

North America east of the Rocky Mountains, in leafy woods and forests

Length

5 cm (2 in)

the caterpillar

Wingspan

5 to 6.5 cm (2 to 2.6 in)

Top speed

about 18 km/h (11 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

It is not venomous, but the caterpillar's hairs can make some people's skin itchy. Look at it without touching.

What does it eat?

The caterpillar munches the leaves of many trees, such as maple, oak, birch, willow and walnut.

Photo of American dagger moth — Picture by Joseph Berger, , Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

How wide are its wings?

as long as 8 grains of rice in a rowas long as 1.5 toy building bricks in a rowwings as wide as 2 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 21 secondsmoves 100 times its own body length every second

How big is American dagger moth 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 dagger moth about 18 km/h (11 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

Young caterpillars are bright yellow and fuzzy. Older ones turn pale yellow or white.

The moths fly from April to September, and the caterpillars are out from July to October.

In the north it has one family of babies a year, but in the warm south it can have two or three.

A female has darker back wings than a male.

you asked

Most asked questions about American dagger moth

?Is the American dagger moth caterpillar poisonous?

It has no venom, but its hairs can make skin itchy, so it is best not to touch it.

?What does the American dagger caterpillar eat?

The leaves of many trees, like maple, oak, birch, willow, elm and walnut.

?How big is the American dagger moth?

Its wings are 5 to 6.5 centimetres across, and its caterpillar grows to about 5 centimetres long.

Myth buster

Myth: The fuzzy American dagger caterpillar is venomous.

Truth: No. Its hairs can make some people's skin itch, but there is no proof that it has any venom.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Acronicta americana
Named by: Harris, 1841
Group: Moths
Family: Noctuidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
Lives on: North America

Where the facts come from

Acronicta americana (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 Joseph Berger, , Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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.