Small bird-dropping moth
Ponometia erastrioides
The small bird-dropping moth is a little moth with a funny name. It lives in fields, weedy places and along rivers in eastern North America. Its caterpillars munch on ragweed.
Lives in
Eastern United States and south-central Canada, in fields and weedy places
Wingspan
1.6 to 2 cm (0.63 to 0.79 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat ragweed plants.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 3 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 38 seconds
How big is Small bird-dropping 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)
Small bird-dropping moth about 9.9 km/h (6.2 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 wings measure only 16 to 20 millimetres from tip to tip.
2
A fully grown caterpillar is about 2.5 centimetres long, longer than the moth itself.
3
The grown-ups fly from May to September.
you asked
Most asked questions about Small bird-dropping moth
?What does the small bird-dropping moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat ragweed plants.
?How big is the small bird-dropping moth?
It is small. Its wings measure 16 to 20 millimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ponometia erastrioides
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Small bird lime moth
Where the facts come from
- Ponometia erastrioides (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 Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. 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.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Atlas moth
Luna moth
Hummingbird hawk-moth
Domestic silk moth
Isabella tiger moth
Polyphemus moth
Great Basin bumble bee
Western white
Large banded grasshopper
Superb ant-hill hoverfly
Ocola skipper
Lateral-lined sharpshooter.jpg){kind=link}