Bug card No. 3195 of 4,939

Owl moth

Thysania zenobia

Eats: Plants MothsRainforests and jungles6 legs

The owl moth is a big grey moth with wavy black lines on its wings. Its wing edges are scalloped, and underneath it is reddish. It lives in warm parts of America.

Lives in

North and South America and the Caribbean

Wingspan

14 cm (5.5 in)

Top speed

about 26 km/h (16 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It does not bite or sting.

What does it eat?

Its caterpillars eat plant leaves.

Photo of Owl moth — Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

wings as wide as your handcould fly across a whole football pitch in 15 seconds

How big is Owl moth compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

Owl moth about 26 km/h (16 mph)

A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Its wings measure about 14 cm across, as wide as a big grown-up hand.

It has a tuft of black hairs between its chest and its tummy.

It has a long curly tongue that it rolls up when it is not using it.

Several other moths around the world are also called owl moths.

you asked

Most asked questions about Owl moth

?How big is the owl moth?

It is big. Its open wings measure about 14 cm across.

?Is the owl moth dangerous?

No. It is a harmless moth.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Thysania zenobia
Named by: Cramer, 1776
Group: Moths
Family: Erebidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
Lives on: North America, South America

Where the facts come from

Thysania zenobia (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 Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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