Copper underwing
The copper underwing is a brown night moth with a secret. Its back wings are a shiny copper colour, hidden under the brown front wings. Its green caterpillar has a pointy hump at the back end, like a little pyramid.
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Fun facts
It gets its name from its back wings, which are a bright copper colour.
It flies at night from late summer to autumn and is drawn to lights.
It is strongly drawn to sugar, even more than to light.
It spends the winter as a tiny egg on a tree.
The females are usually a bit bigger than the males.
Most asked questions about Copper underwing
?Why is it called copper underwing?
Because its back wings, hidden under the front wings, are a shiny copper colour.
?What does the copper underwing caterpillar eat?
Leaves of trees and shrubs like ash, oak, apple, privet, rose and lilac.
?When can I see a copper underwing?
At night from August to October, often near lights.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Amphipyra pyramidea
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
- Also known as
- Humped green fruitworm, Pyramidal green fruitworm
Where the facts come from
- Copper underwing (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 František ŠARŽÍK. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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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