Large yellow underwing
The large yellow underwing is a big, heavy moth with plain brown front wings. When it flies, it flashes bright orange-yellow back wings with a black band. It is one of the most common moths in Europe and often flies to lights at night.
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Fun facts
The sudden flash of yellow when it takes off confuses birds, and then it lands and looks plain brown again.
Its caterpillar is green or brown with two rows of black dashes along its back.
The caterpillars keep eating on mild days all through the winter.
Since it arrived in Canada, it has spread across North America all the way to Alaska.
In some years huge numbers suddenly fly to new places.
Most asked questions about Large yellow underwing
?Why does the large yellow underwing have yellow wings?
The bright yellow back wings flash when it flies and confuse birds. When it lands, they are hidden under the brown wings.
?Is the large yellow underwing a pest?
Its caterpillars are cutworms that can damage garden plants, so gardeners do not like them.
?When can you see the large yellow underwing?
At night in summer, from about July to September, often near lights.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Noctua pronuba
- Named by
- Linnaeus
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Large yellow 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 nick goodrum from Catfield in Norfolk, United Kingdom. CC BY 2.0, 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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