North American common gray
Anavitrinella pampinaria
The common gray is a small grey moth that lives in most of North America. Its grey colour helps it hide on tree bark. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of apple trees, ash, clover and willow.
Lives in
Most of North America except the far north, down to Mexico
Wingspan
2.3 to 3.4 cm (0.91 to 1.3 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of apple, pear, ash, poplar, willow and clover.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 6 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 29 seconds
How big is North American common gray 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)
North American common gray about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its wings are about 2 to 3.5 centimetres from tip to tip.
2
It flies for a long time each year, from April to October.
3
It lives almost everywhere in North America, but not in the icy Arctic.
you asked
Most asked questions about North American common gray
?Is the common gray moth harmful?
No. It is a harmless moth.
?What does the common gray eat?
Its caterpillars eat leaves of apple, pear, ash, poplar, willow and clover.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Anavitrinella pampinaria
- Named by
- Guenée, 1857
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Common gray
Where the facts come from
- Anavitrinella pampinaria (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 Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. 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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