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Sticker of Bogong moth
Bug card No. 0167 of 1,500

Bogong moth

Agrotis infusa
Name means: “from bugung, an Aboriginal Dhudhuroa word meaning brown moth”
Eats: PlantsMothsGardens and meadows6 legs

The bogong moth is a brown Australian moth that goes on a long journey every year. In spring, millions of them fly to the cool Australian Alps. There they rest together in caves all summer, and in autumn they fly back again.

Lives in
Southern Australia, flying to the Australian Alps for the summer
Length
2.5 to 3.5 cm (0.98 to 1.4 in)
Wingspan
4 to 5 cm (1.6 to 2 in)
Top speed
about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its green striped caterpillars eat pasture plants in autumn and winter.
For real!Photo of Bogong moth
Picture by Donald Hobern from Canberra, Australia. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Bogong moth about 3.5 cm long (1.4 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)

How wide are its wings?

Bogong moth wings about 5 cm tip to tip (2 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 6 grains of rice in a rowwings as wide as 1.5 toy building brickscould fly across a whole football pitch in 24 secondsmoves 130 times its own body length every second

How big is Bogong moth compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its name comes from bugung, a word in the Aboriginal Dhudhuroa language that means brown moth.

2

For a very long time, Aboriginal people travelled to the mountains to feast on the moths and meet other groups.

3

Strong winds sometimes blow them into big cities like Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.

4

A grown-up moth weighs only about a third of a gram.

5

It became endangered in 2021 because of droughts and hot caves, but in 2026 people saw many more of them again.

you asked

Most asked questions about Bogong moth

?Where do bogong moths go in summer?

They fly to the Australian Alps and rest in cool mountain caves all summer.

?How big is a bogong moth?

Its wings are about 4 to 5 centimetres across.

?Is the bogong moth endangered?

Yes, it was listed as endangered in 2021. In 2026, people started seeing many more of them again.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Agrotis infusa
Named by
Boisduval, 1832
Group
Moths
Family
Noctuidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Noctuidae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Bogong 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.
  2. Picture by Donald Hobern from Canberra, Australia. 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 hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

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