Nutmeg moth
Anarta trifolii
The nutmeg moth is a small brown night moth. Near the edge of each front wing it has a white line shaped like the letter W. Its brown colours help it hide on the ground and on tree bark.
Lives in
Western Europe, North Africa, Iran, Niger and Quebec in Canada
Wingspan
3.3 to 3.9 cm (1.3 to 1.5 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The moths visit sugary, nectar-rich flowers. Its caterpillars eat many kinds of plants.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 6 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Nutmeg 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)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Nutmeg moth about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
In the north of Europe it is a summer visitor, because it cannot survive the cold winters there.
2
It flies at night and comes to lights.
3
It spends the winter as a pupa.
4
Its caterpillar can be green or brown and is covered in dark dots.
you asked
Most asked questions about Nutmeg moth
?How can you recognise the nutmeg moth?
Look for the white W shaped line near the edge of its brown front wings.
?What does the nutmeg caterpillar eat?
It eats many kinds of plants, including clover.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Anarta trifolii
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Nutmeg, Clover cutworm
Where the facts come from
- Nutmeg (moth) (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 Ben Sale from UK. 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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