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Sticker of Common marble
Bug card No. 1095 of 4,939

Common marble

Syricoris lacunana
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The common marble is a small moth with grey-brown wings crossed by thin silvery lines, like marble stone. It flies at dusk. Its brown caterpillars are not fussy eaters.

Lives in
Europe and Asia
Wingspan
1.6 to 1.8 cm (0.63 to 0.71 in)
Top speed
about 9.4 km/h (5.8 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat many soft plants, like wild carrot, mint, marsh marigold, buttercups and thistles.
For real!Photo of Common marble
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Common marble wings about 1.8 cm tip to tip (0.71 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
could fly across a whole football pitch in 40 seconds

How big is Common marble compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It becomes active at dusk, when the light fades.

2

Its caterpillars grow up to about 1.5 centimetres long.

3

Over the years scientists gave it more than 15 different names.

4

It is easy to mix up with several other small moths.

you asked

Most asked questions about Common marble

?What does the common marble caterpillar eat?

Many plants, such as wild carrot, mint, buttercups and thistles.

?When does the common marble fly?

From late April to September, at dusk.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Syricoris lacunana
Named by
Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
Group
Moths
Family
Tortricidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Tortricidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia
Also known as
Dark strawberry tortrix

Where the facts come from

  1. Syricoris lacunana (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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More from the same group: Moths

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