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Sticker of Satin wave
Bug card No. 3744 of 4,939

Satin wave

Idaea subsericeata
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The satin wave is a small white moth whose wings shine like silk. Thin grey lines run across them. It likes warm, sunny places like forest edges, hedges and dry grassland.

Lives in
Central and southern Europe, North Africa and western Asia, on sunny slopes, forest edges and dry grassland
Wingspan
2.2 to 2.5 cm (0.87 to 0.98 in)
Top speed
about 11 km/h (6.8 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat low plants such as knotgrass, dandelion and chickweed.
For real!Photo of Satin wave
Picture by Ben Sale from UK. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Satin wave wings about 2.5 cm tip to tip (0.98 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
wings as wide as 4 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 34 seconds

How big is Satin wave compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its tiny oval egg starts light yellow and later turns bright orange with red spots.

2

Its caterpillar looks wrinkled and is covered in tiny warts.

3

The moths of the second family each year are a little smaller and whiter underneath.

4

Its pupa is blackish brown to golden brown, with greenish wing cases, and about 9 millimetres long.

you asked

Most asked questions about Satin wave

?How big is the satin wave?

Its wings measure only about 2 to 2.5 centimetres from tip to tip.

?What does the satin wave caterpillar eat?

Low plants such as knotgrass, dandelion and chickweed.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Idaea subsericeata
Named by
Haworth, 1809
Group
Moths
Family
Geometridae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
Lives on
Europe, Africa, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Idaea subsericeata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Ben Sale from UK. 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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More from the same group: Moths

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

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