Bee moth
The bee moth is a small reddish brown, tan or greenish moth. It sneaks into the nests of bumblebees and wasps to lay its eggs. Its caterpillars grow up right inside the nest, eating whatever they can find.
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Fun facts
A female can lay up to 100 eggs in one bumblebee nest.
The caterpillars spin thick silk around themselves like armour, so the bees and wasps cannot hurt them.
If something scares a grown-up bee moth, it drops to the ground on its back and plays dead.
The male sings to the female with sounds too high for people to hear.
Its yellow caterpillars grow to about 2 to 3 centimetres long.
Most asked questions about Bee moth
?Why is it called the bee moth?
Because it lays its eggs in the nests of bumblebees and wasps.
?Is the bee moth bad for bees?
Yes. Its caterpillars tunnel through bumblebee nests and eat their food and babies.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Aphomia sociella
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Pyralidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pyralidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Bumble bee wax moth
Where the facts come from
- Aphomia sociella (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 Olei. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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