Early grey
Xylocampa areola
The early grey is a pale grey moth with darker grey and black markings. Its pattern looks a lot like tree bark. It is one of the first moths to fly in the year, sometimes already in February.
Lives in
Europe and Morocco
Wingspan
3.2 to 4 cm (1.3 to 1.6 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its pinkish caterpillars eat honeysuckle leaves.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Early grey 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)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Early grey about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It flies from February to May, which is very early for a moth.
2
On its front wings it has two big pale marks shaped a bit like the number 8.
3
Its caterpillar is dull pink with dark brown blotches and a little hump near its tail end.
you asked
Most asked questions about Early grey
?When can you see the early grey?
From February to May, depending on where you live.
?What does the early grey caterpillar eat?
It eats honeysuckle.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Xylocampa areola
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa
Where the facts come from
- Xylocampa areola (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 Donald Hobern from Canberra, Australia. CC BY 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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