Speckled green fruitworm moth
Orthosia hibisci
The speckled green fruitworm moth is one of the first moths to fly in spring. It can be pale grey-buff or dark red-brown, plain or with bold bands. No two look quite the same.
Lives in
Most of North America, except deserts, in forests, farms and towns
Wingspan
3 to 3.8 cm (1.2 to 1.5 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of many trees and bushes, like maple, birch, willow, oak and rose family 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 Speckled green fruitworm 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)
Speckled green fruitworm 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
The moths fly only in late March and April, once a year.
2
It lives in damp forests, along rivers, on farms and in towns.
3
Its wing patterns change a lot, from almost plain to strongly striped.
you asked
Most asked questions about Speckled green fruitworm moth
?When can you see the speckled green fruitworm moth?
In early spring, from late March to April.
?What do its caterpillars eat?
Leaves of many trees and bushes, like maples, birches and willows.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Orthosia hibisci
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Orthosia hibisci (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.
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