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Sticker of American snout
Bug card No. 0093 of 4,939

American snout

Libytheana carinenta
Eats: PlantsButterfliesGardens and meadows6 legs

The American snout is a butterfly with a long nose. Its long mouthparts stick out in front like a snout. When it hangs upside down under a twig, it looks just like a dead leaf with a stem.

Lives in
North and South America, with big numbers in Texas and Mexico
Top speed
about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of hackberry trees. The mother lays her eggs on these trees one by one.
For real!Photo of American snout
Picture by Francisco Farriols Sarabia. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Some years, so many snouts fly north together that they darken the sky.

2

These huge journeys happen after a long dry spell followed by heavy summer rain.

3

The rain makes the hackberry trees grow fresh leaves, so there is lots of food for the caterpillars.

4

The tips of its front wings are squared off and hooked.

5

Its caterpillar is dark green with yellow stripes and looks a little humpbacked.

you asked

Most asked questions about American snout

?Why is it called a snout butterfly?

Because its long mouthparts stick out in front of its head like a snout.

?What does the American snout caterpillar eat?

Leaves of hackberry trees.

?Where does the American snout live?

In North and South America. Huge groups are sometimes seen flying through Texas.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Libytheana carinenta
Group
Butterflies
Family
Nymphalidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
Lives on
North America, South America
Also known as
American snout butterfly, Common snout butterfly

Where the facts come from

  1. American snout (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Francisco Farriols Sarabia. CC BY 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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