Scarlet-winged lichen moth
Hypoprepia miniata

The scarlet-winged lichen moth is a bright little moth from North America with scarlet and black wings. Its caterpillars eat lichen, the crusty grey green stuff growing on tree bark. They like lichen on pine trees best.
Lives in
Eastern North America, and in the west from British Columbia to Arizona and Texas
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat lichens growing on trees, most of all on pines.

How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Scarlet-winged lichen moth about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Each front wing is about 1.4 to 1.7 centimetres long.
2
It spends the winter as a caterpillar.
3
In the west it flies in July and August, in the east from April to September.
you asked
Most asked questions about Scarlet-winged lichen moth
?What does the scarlet-winged lichen moth eat?
Its caterpillars eat lichens on trees, especially pines.
?Where does the scarlet-winged lichen moth live?
In eastern North America and in the west from British Columbia to Arizona.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Hypoprepia miniata
- Named by
- Kirby, 1837
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Scarlet lichen moth
Where the facts come from
- Hypoprepia miniata (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 Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. CC BY 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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