Swallow-tailed moth
The swallow-tailed moth is a big, pale moth that looks almost like a butterfly. Its wings are creamy white to pale yellow, and its back wings have little pointed tails, like a swallow. It flies at night in early summer and loves bright lights.
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Fun facts
Its brown caterpillar looks just like a little twig, so birds do not notice it.
It spends the winter as a caterpillar.
Its eggs are orange with tiny ridges, like little striped balls.
Sometimes lots of them fly to a lit window or lamp at the same time.
Most asked questions about Swallow-tailed moth
?Why is it called the swallow-tailed moth?
Its back wings have pointed tails, like the tail of a swallow bird.
?How big is the swallow-tailed moth?
Its wings are about 5 to 6 centimetres across, big for a moth.
?When can you see the swallow-tailed moth?
At night in June and July, often near lights.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ourapteryx sambucaria
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Swallow-tailed 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 Ben Sale from UK. CC BY 2.0, 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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