Purple-barred yellow
Lythria purpuraria
The purple-barred yellow is a small moth with green-yellow front wings. Across them run two red-purple stripes, like ribbons. Unlike many moths, it flies in the daytime.
Lives in
From western Europe to Siberia and Kazakhstan
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat prostrate knotweed, a low plant that often grows along paths.
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)
Purple-barred yellow 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 two families of young each year. The moths fly from April to June and again from July to September.
2
People often mix it up with its sister species, which looks very similar.
3
It comes in many sizes and with many different wing patterns.
you asked
Most asked questions about Purple-barred yellow
?When can I see the purple-barred yellow?
In the daytime, from April to June and again from July to September.
?What does the purple-barred yellow caterpillar eat?
Prostrate knotweed, a low plant that grows on paths and bare ground.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lythria purpuraria
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Lythria purpuraria (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 Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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