Cocoa tussock moth
Orgyia postica
The cocoa tussock moth is a small brown moth from the warm tropics of Asia. Only the male can fly, because the female has no wings at all. Its caterpillar wears fancy tufts of hair like little brushes.
Lives in
India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Borneo, Java, New Guinea and Taiwan
Wingspan
2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.2 in)
males; the female has no wingsWhat does it eat?
Its caterpillars are not fussy at all. They eat leaves of mango, cocoa, coffee, tea, citrus, lychee and many other plants.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 5 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 32 seconds
How big is Cocoa tussock moth 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)
Cocoa tussock moth about 12 km/h (7.5 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its caterpillar is yellowish with brown stripes, a red head and tufts of grey and yellow hair.
2
The males fly all year round.
3
Its eggs are shaped like tiny pillboxes.
4
Tiny wasps lay their own eggs inside its eggs.
you asked
Most asked questions about Cocoa tussock moth
?Can the female cocoa tussock moth fly?
No. The female has no wings, only the male flies.
?What does the cocoa tussock moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of many plants, such as mango, cocoa, coffee, tea and citrus.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Orgyia postica
- Named by
- Walker, 1855
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Hevea tussock moth
Where the facts come from
- Orgyia postica (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 Hsu Hong Lin. CC BY-SA 2.0, 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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