Bug card No. 0690 of 4,939

Brown tussock moth

Olene mendosa

Eats: Plants MothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The brown tussock moth is a smoky brown moth from Asia and Australia. Its caterpillar is the real star: hairy, with four white or brown tufts on its back and a crimson red head. It eats an amazing number of different plants.

Lives in

India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Australia

Wingspan

3 to 5.4 cm (1.2 to 2.1 in)

Top speed

about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

The moth is harmless. It is best not to touch hairy caterpillars.

What does it eat?

Its caterpillars eat a huge range of plants, including mango, tea, citrus, potato and many trees.

Photo of Brown tussock moth — Picture by Sindhu ramchandran at English Wikipedia. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

wings as wide as 1.5 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 24 seconds

How big is Brown tussock 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)

Brown tussock moth 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

The female is much bigger than the male. Her wings measure up to 54 millimetres, his only up to 40.

The full grown caterpillar is about 4 centimetres long.

It turns into a moth inside a silk cocoon spun between leaves.

Its caterpillars have been found on more than 50 kinds of plants.

you asked

Most asked questions about Brown tussock moth

?What does the brown tussock moth caterpillar eat?

Almost anything green, including mango, tea, citrus, potato and many kinds of trees.

?What does the brown tussock moth caterpillar look like?

It is hairy and greyish brown, with four tufts on its back and a crimson red head.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Olene mendosa
Named by: Hübner, 1823
Group: Moths
Family: Erebidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
Lives on: Asia, Australia and Oceania
Also known as: Hairy tussock moth

Where the facts come from

Olene mendosa (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 Sindhu ramchandran at English Wikipedia. CC BY 3.0, 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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