Maple looper moth
Parallelia bistriaris
The maple looper moth is a brown moth that is a master of disguise. When it rests, it looks just like a fallen dead leaf. Its caterpillar is just as clever and looks like a little twig.
Lives in
Eastern North America
Wingspan
3.3 to 4.3 cm (1.3 to 1.7 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of trees such as birch, maple and walnut.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds
How big is Maple looper 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)
Maple looper moth about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
You can spot it by two lighter lines running side by side along its dark brown body.
2
A grey edge on its front wings makes it look even more like a fallen leaf.
3
It flies from April to September.
4
There is only one family of these moths each year.
you asked
Most asked questions about Maple looper moth
?What does the maple looper moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat leaves of birch, maple and walnut trees.
?How does the maple looper moth hide?
The moth looks like a dead leaf and the caterpillar looks like a twig.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Parallelia bistriaris
- Named by
- Hübner, 1818
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Parallelia bistriaris (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 Dendroica cerulea. CC BY 2.0, 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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