Bug card No. 3134 of 4,939

Orange moth

Angerona prunaria

Eats: Plants MothsForests and woods6 legs

The orange moth is a fairly big moth, coloured red, orange or yellow with fine dark speckles. Some have a dark brown band across their wings instead. It flies in forests in early summer.

Lives in

Central and northern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and east to Japan, 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 does not bite or sting.

What does it eat?

Its caterpillars eat blackthorn, honeysuckle, aspen, buckthorn and blueberry.

Photo of Orange moth — Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

wings as wide as 8 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds

How big is Orange 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)

Orange moth about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Its caterpillar looks just like a small dead twig, which fools hungry birds.

The males are brighter coloured than the females.

It is the only species in its genus.

Its caterpillar can grow up to 5 centimetres long.

A few very big ones have wings over 5 centimetres across.

you asked

Most asked questions about Orange moth

?When does the orange moth fly?

From May to July.

?What does the orange moth caterpillar look like?

It is brown or grey and looks like a little dead twig, with small bumps on its back.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Angerona prunaria
Named by: Linnaeus, 1758
Group: Moths
Family: Geometridae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
Lives on: Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

Angerona prunaria (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 Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip