Straw underwing
Thalpophila matura
The straw underwing is a moth with dark brown front wings. Its back wings are the colour of straw, with a wide blackish border. It flies at night in high summer.
Lives in
Europe, including Estonia, North Africa and western Asia
Wingspan
3.8 to 4.6 cm (1.5 to 1.8 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The moths visit nectar-rich flowers and sweet sugar. The caterpillars eat grasses.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 8 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds
How big is Straw underwing 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)
Straw underwing about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It spends the winter as a small caterpillar.
2
Its caterpillar is grey brown with pale and dark lines along its body.
3
It likes dry grassland, the edges of woods and park-like places.
4
It flies at night in July and August, and comes to lights.
you asked
Most asked questions about Straw underwing
?What does the straw underwing eat?
The moths drink nectar and sugar. The caterpillars eat grasses.
?Does the straw underwing live in Estonia?
Yes. In the north it lives in parts of Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, Finland and Estonia.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Thalpophila matura
- Named by
- Hufnagel, 1766
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Straw underwing (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 Pjt56. 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.
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