Azalea caterpillar moth
Datana major
The azalea caterpillar moth is a brown moth from the southeastern United States. Its caterpillar is well known to gardeners because it munches on azaleas. The moths fly in summer.
Lives in
The eastern United States, from Maryland to Florida and west to Kansas and Arkansas
Wingspan
4 to 5 cm (1.6 to 2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The caterpillar mainly eats rhododendrons and azaleas, and bog rosemary.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 1.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 24 seconds
How big is Azalea caterpillar moth compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Azalea caterpillar moth about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It flies from June to August.
2
Usually there is one family each year, but in the south a second one can come.
3
Gardeners know it as the azalea caterpillar.
you asked
Most asked questions about Azalea caterpillar moth
?What does the azalea caterpillar eat?
Mostly rhododendrons and azaleas.
?When does the azalea caterpillar moth fly?
From June to August.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Datana major
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Notodontidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Notodontidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Major datana, Azalea caterpillar
Where the facts come from
- Datana major (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 Natasha Wright. CC BY 3.0 us, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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