New Zealand magpie moth
The magpie moth is black with white spots, just like a magpie bird is black and white. Its body has orange bands. It flies during the day, so people often think it is a butterfly.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillar is a hairy woolly bear: black with red lines, blue spots and tufts of hair.
The caterpillars can freeze solid and still survive, so it can live even in cold parts of New Zealand.
The caterpillar weaves its own hairs into its silk cocoon.
From egg to moth takes about six to seven weeks.
It is found nowhere else in the world except New Zealand.
Most asked questions about New Zealand magpie moth
?Is the magpie moth a butterfly?
No, it is a moth. It flies in daylight and is very colourful, so people often mix it up with a butterfly.
?What does the magpie moth caterpillar eat?
Ragwort and other plants of the same family.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nyctemera annulata
- Named by
- Boisduval, 1832
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Magpie moth
Where the facts come from
- Nyctemera annulata (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 Birgit E. Rhode, Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.. 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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