Drinker moth
The drinker moth is a furry orange-brown or yellowish moth with two little white spots on each front wing. It got its funny name from its big hairy caterpillar. People long ago saw it dipping its head into water drops and thought it was a real drinker.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillar grows to about 6 centimetres long, as long as your finger.
The caterpillar is hairy, striped and spotted, with fluffy tufts at the front and back.
The little caterpillars sleep through the winter and start eating again in spring.
It flies at night from June to August, and the boys love to fly to lamps.
The boys have feelers like combs, and the girls have thinner, slightly jagged feelers.
Most asked questions about Drinker moth
?Why is it called the drinker moth?
Because people thought its caterpillar loved drinking drops of dew and water.
?Is the drinker moth caterpillar dangerous?
No, it is harmless, but it is very hairy, so it is best to just look at it.
?How big is the drinker moth?
Its wings are about 4.5 to 6.5 centimetres across. The girls are a bit bigger than the boys.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Euthrix potatoria
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Lasiocampidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lasiocampidae
- Lives on
- Europe
- Also known as
- Drinker
Where the facts come from
- Euthrix potatoria (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 G.-U. Tolkiehn. CC BY 2.5, 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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