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Sticker of Moonseed moth
Bug card No. 2899 of 4,939

Moonseed moth

Plusiodonta compressipalpis
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The moonseed moth is a small North American moth that flies on summer nights. Its caterpillars grow up on a climbing plant called moonseed. That is how the moth got its pretty name.

Lives in
North America, from Minnesota and southern Canada to Florida and Texas
Wingspan
2.5 to 3.3 cm (0.98 to 1.3 in)
Top speed
about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of moonseed and snailseed vines.
For real!Photo of Moonseed moth
Picture by Mike Boone. CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Moonseed moth wings about 3.3 cm tip to tip (1.3 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 6 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 29 seconds

How big is Moonseed moth compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Adults fly from May to September.

2

In much of the east, two families of young grow up each year.

3

Its caterpillars only eat a few special vines, moonseed and snailseed.

you asked

Most asked questions about Moonseed moth

?What does the moonseed moth eat?

Its caterpillars eat moonseed and snailseed vines.

?How big is the moonseed moth?

Its wings measure about 25 to 33 millimetres from tip to tip.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Plusiodonta compressipalpis
Named by
Guenée, 1852
Group
Moths
Family
Erebidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Plusiodonta compressipalpis (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 Mike Boone. CC BY-SA 2.5, 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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