Nine-spotted moth
The nine-spotted moth is a shiny blue-black moth with white spots on its wings and yellow rings on its long body. Unlike most moths, it flies in the daytime, on warm sunny days. Its white-tipped feelers look like little magic wands.
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Fun facts
It usually has six white spots on its front wings and two or three on its back wings, but the number can change.
It copies the look of a burnet moth that birds find disgusting, so birds leave both alone.
Its caterpillar is grey-black and fluffy with thick brown hairs, and grows to about 5 centimetres.
The caterpillar spends the winter asleep in a little silk nest.
It flies from late May to August.
Most asked questions about Nine-spotted moth
?Is the nine-spotted moth a butterfly?
No, it is a moth, but it flies in the daytime like a butterfly.
?How many spots does the nine-spotted moth have?
Often about nine white spots in total, but the number changes from moth to moth.
?What does the nine-spotted moth caterpillar eat?
Low plants such as dandelion, dock, plantain and grasses.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Amata phegea
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Yellow belted burnet
Where the facts come from
- Nine-spotted 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 For use outside of Wikimedia projects, you have to credit also with hyperlink. For other licenses or terms of use contact me.. 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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