Mullein moth
The mullein moth is a brown moth with streaky wings that look like a piece of dry wood or bark. Its caterpillar is much easier to find: it is creamy white with black and yellow spots. You can often see it munching on mullein and buddleia plants.
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Fun facts
When something scares the caterpillar, it freezes and may even throw up.
A fully grown caterpillar is about 4.5 centimetres long.
It can stay a pupa in its cocoon underground for a very long time, up to five years in captivity.
In Estonia it has only been found a few times, in the south.
Most asked questions about Mullein moth
?What does the mullein moth caterpillar eat?
Leaves of mullein, figwort and buddleia plants.
?Is the mullein moth caterpillar harmful?
Not to people. It can eat all the leaves of a garden plant, so gardeners sometimes find it a pest.
?How big is the mullein moth?
Its wings are 4.5 to 5.6 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cucullia verbasci
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Noctuidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Mullein moth (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 Dumi. 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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