Somber carpet moth
Disclisioprocta stellata
The somber carpet moth is a dark, quiet-coloured moth. It lives in a huge area, from Canada down to Brazil and in Africa too. Its caterpillar likes the bright bougainvillea plant.
Lives in
From eastern Canada through the Americas to Brazil, Africa south of the Sahara and Indian Ocean islands
Wingspan
2.5 to 3.3 cm (0.98 to 1.3 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The caterpillar eats plants like bougainvillea, amaranth and four o'clock flowers.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 6 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 29 seconds
How big is Somber carpet 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)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Somber carpet moth about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
In the warm south of North America it flies all year round.
2
People brought it by accident to Hawaii in 1993.
3
Its caterpillar is a looper that walks by making a hump with its body.
you asked
Most asked questions about Somber carpet moth
?What does the somber carpet caterpillar eat?
Plants like bougainvillea, amaranth and four o'clock flowers.
?When does the somber carpet fly?
All year in warm places, and from July to November further north.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Disclisioprocta stellata
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Bougainvillea looper, Somber carpet
Where the facts come from
- Disclisioprocta stellata (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.
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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