Dingy footman
Eilema griseola
The dingy footman is a long, slim grey moth. When it rests, it folds its wings flat along its body. Its caterpillar eats lichen, the crusty stuff that grows on trees and stones.
Lives in
Europe and northern and southeastern Asia, including Japan
Wingspan
3.2 to 4 cm (1.3 to 1.6 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The caterpillar eats lichen.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Dingy footman 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)
Dingy footman about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
In Britain it became much more common between 1968 and 2007.
2
It used to live only in southern fens and marshes in Britain, but now it also lives in gardens.
3
It flies from May to August.
you asked
Most asked questions about Dingy footman
?What does the dingy footman eat?
Its caterpillar eats lichen.
?When can I see a dingy footman?
From May to August, often in gardens.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Eilema griseola
- Named by
- Hübner, 1803
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Collita griseola (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 Markus Krieger. CC BY 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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