The passenger
Dysgonia algira
The passenger is a brown night moth with a purple shine when it is new. Across its front wings runs a wide whitish band, like a belt. The edges of its wings are violet grey.
Lives in
Southern Europe, North Africa and western, central and southern Asia
Wingspan
4 to 4.6 cm (1.6 to 1.8 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of brambles and willows.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 8 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds
How big is The passenger 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)
The passenger about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1767.
2
Its caterpillar is yellowish grey with fine black lines along its body.
3
It flies from May to August, depending on where it lives.
you asked
Most asked questions about The passenger
?What does the passenger moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat bramble and willow leaves.
?How big is the passenger moth?
Its wings are about 4 to 4.6 centimetres wide.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dysgonia algira
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1767
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Dysgonia algira (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 Peter Skacel. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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