Clouded buff
Diacrisia sannio
The clouded buff is a pretty moth with a big difference between the boys and the girls. The male is lemon yellow with pink edges and a reddish spot on each wing. The female is a darker, brownish red.
Lives in
From Ireland across Europe to Siberia, in meadows and heaths
Wingspan
3.5 to 5 cm (1.4 to 2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat low plants like bedstraw, plantain, dandelion, willowherb and nettle.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 1.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 24 seconds
How big is Clouded buff compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Clouded buff about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its caterpillar is dark brown with fox-red hairs.
2
The grown-up moths fly in June and July.
3
In parts of Central Asia some are almost completely pale yellow, without any pink or black.
4
In Japan and eastern China a close cousin lives in its place.
you asked
Most asked questions about Clouded buff
?How big is the clouded buff moth?
Its wings are about 3.5 to 5 centimetres across.
?What does the clouded buff caterpillar eat?
Low plants such as dandelion, plantain, nettle, bedstraw and willowherb.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Diacrisia sannio
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Diacrisia sannio (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 Svdmolen. CC BY 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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