Brown-shaded gray
Iridopsis defectaria
The brown-shaded gray is a grey moth with brownish shading from the eastern and southern United States. In warm places it can be flying for most of the year. Its caterpillars live on trees.
Lives in
Eastern and southern United States, from Pennsylvania to Texas and Florida
Wingspan
3 cm (1.2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of oak, poplar, sweet cherry and willow.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 5 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 32 seconds
How big is Brown-shaded gray 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)
Brown-shaded gray about 12 km/h (7.5 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
Depending on where it lives, it can be flying from February all the way to November.
2
Its wings are about 3 centimetres across.
3
It lives as far west as Iowa and Kansas.
you asked
Most asked questions about Brown-shaded gray
?What does the brown-shaded gray eat?
Its caterpillars eat leaves of oak, poplar, cherry and willow.
?Is the brown-shaded gray harmful?
No. It is a harmless moth.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Iridopsis defectaria
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Brown-shaded gray moth
Where the facts come from
- Anacamptodes defectaria (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 NCBioTeacher. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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