Bug card No. 1214 of 4,939

Cotton tipworm moth

Crocidosema plebejana

Eats: Plants MothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The cotton tipworm moth is a tiny moth that has spread around the warm parts of the world. The male is dark brown to black with a white eye-like spot, and the female is pale brown. Its caterpillars hide inside seed pods and young shoots of mallow plants.

Lives in

Warm parts of the whole world, many ocean islands, and parts of Europe

Wingspan

1.2 to 1.6 cm (0.47 to 0.63 in)

Top speed

about 8.9 km/h (5.5 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It does not bite or sting.

What does it eat?

Its caterpillars eat seed pods and shoots of mallows and cotton, and sometimes pumpkins, hawthorn or eucalyptus.

Photo of Cotton tipworm moth — Picture by bythepark. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

could fly across a whole football pitch in 42 seconds

How big is Cotton tipworm 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)

Cotton tipworm moth about 8.9 km/h (5.5 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

Its wings are only about 1.2 to 1.6 centimetres from tip to tip.

It flies in the evening and likes to come to lights.

People probably carried it by accident to islands as far away as Polynesia and Saint Helena.

It was first seen in Britain only after 1900.

Scientists described it again and again under different names, because it lives in so many places.

you asked

Most asked questions about Cotton tipworm moth

?What does the cotton tipworm eat?

Its caterpillars eat seed pods and shoots of mallows and cotton.

?Is the cotton tipworm a pest?

Sometimes. It can damage cotton plants, but it is harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Crocidosema plebejana
Named by: Zeller, 1847
Group: Moths
Family: Tortricidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Tortricidae
Lives on: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Also known as: Cotton tipworm

Where the facts come from

Crocidosema plebejana (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 bythepark. CC BY 4.0, 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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