The uncertain
The uncertain is a brown moth from Europe and Asia. It has a funny name because it looks so much like two other moths that even experts are not sure which is which. Its wings have darker spots outlined in white.
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Fun facts
Its wings are about 3 centimetres from tip to tip.
To tell it apart from its look-alikes for sure, scientists have to look at it under a microscope.
The females are darker than the males.
In Belgium and the Netherlands it flies from late May to August.
Most asked questions about The uncertain
?Why is the moth called the uncertain?
Because it is so easy to confuse with two very similar moths.
?What does the uncertain eat?
Its caterpillars eat dead-nettle, primrose, chickweed and dock.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Hoplodrina octogenaria
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Uncertain
Where the facts come from
- Hoplodrina octogenaria (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 Fvlamoen. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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