Lily borer
The lily borer is a dark brown moth with almost white back wings. Its caterpillars are boldly coloured in pale yellow on black and brown. They eat lilies and can even bore into the bulbs.
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Fun facts
The caterpillars eat poisonous plants, so they become poisonous too. Their bright colours warn birds to stay away.
Young caterpillars live in groups and tunnel inside the leaves.
In cool weather the caterpillars may spend the winter inside a lily bulb.
The caterpillars grow to about 4 centimetres long.
Its legs have black and white stripes.
Most asked questions about Lily borer
?What does the lily borer eat?
Its caterpillars eat lilies such as crinum and clivia, including the bulbs.
?Is the lily borer caterpillar poisonous?
Yes, to animals that eat it. It is safe to look at, but never put one in your mouth.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Brithys crini
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Amaryllis borer, Crinum borer, Kew arches
Where the facts come from
- Brithys crini (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 JMK. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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