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Sticker of Black V moth
Bug card No. 0377 of 4,939

Black V moth

Arctornis l-nigrum
Eats: PlantsMothsForests and woods6 legs

The black V moth is a moth from Europe and Asia. Its name comes from a little black mark on its wing shaped like a letter. It flies in early summer, from May to July.

Lives in
Europe and Asia, including Japan and Taiwan, in forests
Wingspan
3.5 to 4.5 cm (1.4 to 1.8 in)
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of beech and birch trees.
For real!Photo of Black V moth
Picture by unknown author. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Black V moth wings about 4.5 cm tip to tip (1.8 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
wings as wide as 8 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds

How big is Black V moth compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its scientific name l-nigrum means black L.

2

Its wings measure about 3.5 to 4.5 centimetres from tip to tip.

3

Slightly different forms of it live in Japan, Taiwan and the far east of Russia.

you asked

Most asked questions about Black V moth

?What does the black V moth eat?

Its caterpillars eat beech and birch leaves.

?When does the black V moth fly?

From May to July.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Arctornis l-nigrum
Named by
Müller, 1764
Group
Moths
Family
Erebidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Arctornis l-nigrum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by unknown author. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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