Deadwood borer moth
Scolecocampa liburna
The deadwood borer is a moth from the eastern United States with an unusual caterpillar. Most caterpillars eat leaves, but this one tunnels inside fallen, dead branches and tree trunks. The grown-up moth flies in summer.
Lives in
Eastern United States, from Wisconsin and New England south to Florida and Texas, in forests
Wingspan
3.5 to 4.3 cm (1.4 to 1.7 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars tunnel and feed inside fallen dead wood of oak, hickory, chestnut, sycamore and tulip trees.
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 25 seconds
How big is Deadwood borer 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)
Deadwood borer moth about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its wings measure about 3.5 to 4.3 centimetres from tip to tip.
2
In the north it has one family of babies a year, in the south more.
3
It flies from late May to July, and in some places again in late August.
you asked
Most asked questions about Deadwood borer moth
?What does the deadwood borer eat?
Its caterpillars eat the dead wood of fallen branches and trunks.
?Is the deadwood borer bad for trees?
No. It lives in wood that is already dead and fallen.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Scolecocampa liburna
- Named by
- Geyer, 1837
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Dead-wood borer
Where the facts come from
- Scolecocampa liburna (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 Marvin Smith. CC BY-SA 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
Common snipe fly
Shore sexton beetle
Eastern scissors grinder cicada
Introduced pine sawfly
Red ring skirt
Common bark spider.jpg){kind=link}