Plantain moth
The plantain moth is a small moth with straw coloured wings and zigzag lines. It lives in New Zealand, Australia and nearby islands. Its caterpillars love to eat a leafy plant called plantain.
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Fun facts
Its wings are about 2 centimetres across.
Farmers in New Zealand plant plantain as food for their animals, so this hungry moth has become a nuisance for them.
It also lives on small faraway islands like Norfolk Island and the Kermadec Islands.
When it was first named in 1843, it had a different scientific name.
Most asked questions about Plantain moth
?What does the plantain moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat plantain, a leafy plant, and sometimes lucerne.
?Where does the plantain moth live?
In New Zealand, Australia, New Caledonia and some small islands nearby.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Scopula rubraria
- Named by
- Doubleday, 1843
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Scopula rubraria (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 Birgit E. Rhode, Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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