Fox moth
The fox moth is a furry brown moth with two thin yellow stripes across its front wings. The males are a foxy reddish brown, and the females are paler and greyer. Its big hairy caterpillar is a common sight on heaths and moors.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillar can grow to about 8 centimetres long, as long as a finger.
The young caterpillar is black with bright yellow or orange rings.
The caterpillars spend the winter asleep in fallen leaves from September to March.
The males fly in the afternoon and at night, but the females fly only at night.
There is only one family of fox moths each year, flying from May to July.
Most asked questions about Fox moth
?What does the fox moth caterpillar eat?
Heather, brambles, grasses, clover and many other low plants.
?When do fox moths fly?
From May to July. Males also fly in the afternoon, females only at night.
?How big is the fox moth?
Its wings are about 4 to 6.5 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Macrothylacia rubi
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Lasiocampidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lasiocampidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Macrothylacia rubi (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 Rasbak. CC BY-SA 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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