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Sticker of Arge moth
Bug card No. 0139 of 4,939

Arge moth

Apantesis arge
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The arge moth is a tiger moth from North America. It flies in summer, often at night. Its caterpillars are not fussy and will munch on lots of different plants.

Lives in
North America, from Canada to Florida and New Mexico
Wingspan
3.8 to 5 cm (1.5 to 2 in)
Top speed
about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of many plants, like corn, sunflowers, grapes and even prickly pear cactus.
For real!Photo of Arge moth
Picture by Beatriz Moisset. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Arge moth wings about 5 cm tip to tip (2 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 24 seconds

How big is Arge moth compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its caterpillars will even eat prickly pear cactus.

2

In the south there are two families of young each year, in the north one or two.

3

Grown up moths can be seen from April to September in most places.

you asked

Most asked questions about Arge moth

?What does the arge moth caterpillar eat?

Many plants, including corn, sunflower, grape, dock and cactus.

?How big is the arge moth?

Its wings measure about 38 to 50 millimetres from tip to tip.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Apantesis arge
Named by
Drury, 1773
Group
Moths
Family
Erebidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Arge tiger moth

Where the facts come from

  1. Apantesis arge (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 Beatriz Moisset. 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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