Lace border
Scopula ornata
The lace border is a pretty little white moth. The edges of its wings have soft grey and brown patterns that look like lace. It flies in sunny, flowery places in spring and summer.
Lives in
Europe, North Africa and the Near East
Wingspan
2.1 to 2.4 cm (0.83 to 0.94 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars mostly eat wild thyme, but also yarrow, mint, oregano, dandelion and other low plants.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 4 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 34 seconds
How big is Lace border 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)
Lace border about 11 km/h (6.8 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its caterpillars love thyme, a plant that smells nice and is used in cooking.
2
It flies twice a year, in May and June and again from late July to September.
3
It was first described in 1763 in an old book about the insects of Slovenia.
you asked
Most asked questions about Lace border
?What does the lace border eat?
Its caterpillars mostly eat thyme and other low herbs.
?How big is the lace border moth?
Its wings are a little over 2 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Scopula ornata
- Named by
- Scopoli, 1763
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Scopula ornata (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 Didier from Sarreguemines, France. 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.
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