Mullein wave
Scopula marginepunctata
The mullein wave is a small moth with off-white to light brown wings dusted with dark speckles. A dark jagged line runs across its wings. It flies in two generations from May to September.
Lives in
Europe, North Africa and across the Middle East and Central Asia to Mongolia
Wingspan
2.5 to 2.8 cm (0.98 to 1.1 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its slim grey-brown caterpillars eat yarrow and mugwort.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 5 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 32 seconds
How big is Mullein wave 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)
Mullein wave about 12 km/h (7.5 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
The moths of the second generation are often smaller than the first.
2
Its eggs are light yellow at first and turn red just before they hatch.
3
Its colour changes a lot. In one part of Switzerland, the moths are much darker.
you asked
Most asked questions about Mullein wave
?What does the mullein wave caterpillar eat?
It eats yarrow and mugwort.
?How big is the mullein wave?
Its wings measure about 25 to 28 millimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Scopula marginepunctata
- Named by
- Goeze, 1781
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Scopula marginepunctata (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 Please report references to [email protected] .. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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