Bug card No. 4646 of 4,939

Waved umber

Menophra abruptaria

Eats: Plants MothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The waved umber is a brown moth with wavy lines on its wings. When it rests on bark or a fence, it is very hard to see. It flies in spring.

Lives in

Southern Europe, north to England and Germany, plus North Africa and Anatolia

Wingspan

3.6 to 4.2 cm (1.4 to 1.7 in)

Top speed

about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.

What does it eat?

The caterpillar eats leaves of privet and lilac.

How big is it?

wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

Waved umber about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)

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

cool stuff

It flies from April to June.

Usually there is one family of moths each year, but sometimes a second one comes in summer.

Its caterpillar likes garden hedges of privet and lilac bushes, so it often lives near people.

you asked

?What does the waved umber caterpillar eat?

Privet and lilac leaves.

?When does the waved umber fly?

From April to June.

Menophra abruptaria (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 Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

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