Bug card No. 0710 of 4,939

Buff footman

Eilema depressa

Eats: Plants MothsForests and woods6 legs

The buff footman is a slim moth that folds its wings flat along its body. Its wings are grey-brown, with a bright yellow front edge and fringe. In the daytime it rests quietly in trees and bushes.

Lives in

From western Europe across Asia to Korea and Japan, in woods

Top speed

about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. It does not bite or sting.

What does it eat?

Its caterpillars eat lichens and algae, mostly on conifer trees, but also on oaks and heather.

Photo of Buff footman — Picture by Fvlamoen. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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)

Buff footman about 14 km/h (8.7 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Each front wing is about 1.5 to 1.7 centimetres long.

Some are much paler, almost clay-coloured or nearly white.

Its caterpillar is lead grey with a yellow stripe down its back.

It flies from June to September.

you asked

Most asked questions about Buff footman

?What does the buff footman eat?

Its caterpillars eat lichens and algae on trees.

?When can you see the buff footman?

From June to September, often resting in trees in the daytime.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Eilema depressa
Named by: Esper, 1787
Group: Moths
Family: Erebidae
Classification: Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
Lives on: Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

Katha depressa (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 Fvlamoen. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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