Hornet moth
The hornet moth is a moth that dresses up as a hornet. It has clear, see through wings and a body with yellow and black stripes. It is even as big as a hornet, but it is completely harmless.
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Fun facts
When it is disturbed, it even flies in jerky zigzags like a real hornet.
The caterpillar lives hidden in a tree for two or three years before it turns into a moth.
The pupa has rings of hard spikes. It wriggles up its tunnel with them until it pokes out of the bark.
A mother flies around a tree and drops hundreds or even thousands of eggs.
Females have two yellow stripes on the tail end and males have three.
Most asked questions about Hornet moth
?Is the hornet moth dangerous?
No. It only looks like a hornet. It cannot sting or bite.
?How can you tell a hornet moth from a real hornet?
The hornet moth has more yellow, clear wings, and no thin waist between its body parts like a hornet has.
?What does the hornet moth eat?
Its caterpillar lives inside poplar and willow trees and eats the wood.
Myth buster
Myth: The hornet moth is a hornet.
Truth: No. It is a moth that only looks like a hornet. That disguise makes many birds leave it alone.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Sesia apiformis
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sesiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sesiidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Hornet clearwing
Where the facts come from
- Hornet moth (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 Colette Kerr. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.
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