Bug Wiki
Sticker of Black rustic
Bug card No. 0424 of 4,939

Black rustic

Aporophyla nigra
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The black rustic is a moth with deep black front wings, as dark as a night sky. It has small yellowish spots near the middle of each wing. It flies in autumn, when many other moths are gone.

Lives in
North Africa, southern and central Europe up to Scotland and Norway, and western Asia
Wingspan
4 to 4.8 cm (1.6 to 1.9 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 many low plants, such as grasses, clover, dock and broom.
For real!Photo of Black rustic
Picture by Dumi. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Black rustic wings about 4.8 cm tip to tip (1.9 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 1.5 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds

How big is Black rustic compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It flies in September and October, and sometimes even in December and January.

2

The male has white back wings, while the female's are smoky grey-brown.

3

The caterpillar is yellow-green with red lines along its back.

4

Some black rustics are pure black with no brown at all.

you asked

Most asked questions about Black rustic

?When does the black rustic fly?

In autumn, in September and October, and sometimes in winter.

?What does the black rustic eat?

Its caterpillars eat grasses, clover, dock and other low plants.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Aporophyla nigra
Named by
Haworth, 1809
Group
Moths
Family
Noctuidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
Lives on
Africa, Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Aporophyla nigra (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 Dumi. 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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More from the same group: Moths

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

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