Bluegrass webworm moth
Parapediasia teterrellus
The bluegrass webworm moth is a small moth that lives on lawns. Its caterpillars eat grass. It has spread across North America together with people and their lawns.
Lives in
North America from Ontario to Florida and west to California, and now also Japan and China
Wingspan
2.1 cm (0.83 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat lawn grasses like bluegrass and fescue.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 4 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 38 seconds
How big is Bluegrass webworm 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)
Bluegrass webworm moth about 10 km/h (6.2 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
It was first described in 1821, one of the first moths of its kind recorded in North America.
2
As people planted more lawns, it spread west, reaching Los Angeles in 1954.
3
In cities it has pushed out other lawn moths.
4
It has two families a year and flies from May to October.
you asked
Most asked questions about Bluegrass webworm moth
?What does the bluegrass webworm eat?
Its caterpillars eat lawn grasses.
?How big is the bluegrass webworm moth?
It is small. Its open wings are about 2 cm across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Parapediasia teterrellus
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Crambidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Crambidae
- Lives on
- North America, Asia
- Also known as
- Bluegrass webworm, Bluegrass sod webworm
Where the facts come from
- Parapediasia teterrellus (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 Dendroica cerulea. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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