Scarce dagger
Acronicta auricoma
The scarce dagger is a grey moth dusted with darker scales. On its wings it has short black streaks that look like tiny daggers. It flies at night across much of Europe and Asia.
Lives in
Most of Europe and across Russia and Siberia to the Far East, in woods and heaths
Wingspan
3.6 to 4.2 cm (1.4 to 1.7 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Moths cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat oak, bramble, heather and bilberry.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 7 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 27 seconds
How big is Scarce dagger 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)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Scarce dagger about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It has been gone from England since 1912.
2
In Scandinavia it lives even north of the Arctic Circle.
3
In Britain it used to fly twice a year, in May and June and again in late summer.
4
It does not live in Spain and Portugal.
you asked
Most asked questions about Scarce dagger
?Why is it called the scarce dagger?
It has small black dagger-shaped streaks on its wings, and it is rare in some places.
?What does the scarce dagger eat?
Its caterpillars eat oak, bramble, heather and bilberry.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Acronicta auricoma
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Acronicta auricoma (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 Dieder Plu. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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