Giant wood moth
The giant wood moth is the heaviest moth in the world. It can weigh as much as 30 grams, which is like six sugar cubes. Its baby, a big caterpillar, lives for years inside a tunnel in a eucalyptus tree.
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Fun facts
Its wings are about 23 centimetres across, wider than a sheet of paper.
The caterpillar starts only 1.5 millimetres long but grows to about 15 centimetres, as long as a pencil.
The caterpillar lives about three years inside its tree tunnel before it turns into a moth.
It closes the door of its tunnel with a plug made of silk and wood bits.
In 2021 one was seen at a school in Australia and it made the news all the way in the New York Times.
Most asked questions about Giant wood moth
?How big is the giant wood moth?
Its wings are about 23 centimetres across, and it can weigh up to 30 grams. It is the heaviest moth in the world.
?What does the giant wood moth eat?
The grown-up moth has no mouth and eats nothing. The caterpillar eats the wood inside eucalyptus trees.
?Is the giant wood moth dangerous?
No, it is completely harmless.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Endoxyla cinereus
- Named by
- Tepper, 1890
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Cossidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Cossidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Endoxyla cinereus (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 Greg Tasney. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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