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Sticker of Belted grass-veneer
Bug card No. 0338 of 4,939

Belted grass-veneer

Euchromius ocellea
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The belted grass-veneer is a small moth that is a real world traveller. It lives in warm places all around the globe and sometimes flies far away to cooler countries. Its wings have fine silver streaks and little golden spots.

Lives in
Warm parts of the whole world, and sometimes visits cooler countries
Wingspan
1.3 to 2.7 cm (0.51 to 1.1 in)
Top speed
about 12 km/h (7.5 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat maize and sorghum, two kinds of tall grain plants.
For real!Photo of Belted grass-veneer
Picture by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Belted grass-veneer wings about 2.7 cm tip to tip (1.1 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 32 seconds

How big is Belted grass-veneer compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is a migrant, which means it travels long distances. It is a rare visitor in Britain and the Netherlands.

2

Its caterpillar is white with amber spots and grows to about 2 centimetres long.

3

Near the edge of each front wing it has a row of black dots with shiny golden spots beside them.

4

In southern Africa you can see it flying from October to April.

you asked

Most asked questions about Belted grass-veneer

?Where does the belted grass-veneer live?

In warm tropical and subtropical places all over the world.

?What does the belted grass-veneer eat?

Its caterpillars eat maize and sorghum.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Euchromius ocellea
Named by
Haworth, 1811
Group
Moths
Family
Crambidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Crambidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Necklace veneer

Where the facts come from

  1. Euchromius ocellea (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 Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren. 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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