Dotted clay
The dotted clay is a night-flying moth with dull reddish-brown front wings. Near the tip of each front wing it has a short black dash, and there is a small black dot near the base. Its back wings are a soft yellowish grey.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillar is brown or grey with a reddish tinge and slanting dark marks along its sides.
It comes in several colour forms. Some are greyer, some more purple, and in the north the lines are made of little dots.
The grown-up moths fly in July and August.
Most asked questions about Dotted clay
?What does the dotted clay caterpillar eat?
Many kinds of plants, including bog myrtle, brambles and tree leaves.
?How big is the dotted clay?
Its wings are about 3.5 to 4 centimetres across when spread out.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Xestia baja
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Xestia baja (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 dhobern. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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