Herald moth
The herald moth has orange-brown wings with ragged edges, so when it rests it looks just like a dry, crinkly leaf. In winter it hides in cool, dark places like cellars, barns and caves. On a sunny spring day it wakes up and flies again.
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Fun facts
It was the first insect found to fluff up its hairs to keep warm, just like a cat fluffs up its fur.
Its caterpillar is bright green with thin yellow lines between the body rings.
The caterpillar makes a white silk cocoon between two leaves to turn into a moth.
You can sometimes find many heralds sleeping together on the walls of caves and cellars in winter.
Most asked questions about Herald moth
?Where does the herald moth go in winter?
It sleeps in cool, dark places like cellars, barns and caves.
?Why does the herald moth look like a leaf?
Its ragged orange-brown wings look like a dead, shrivelled leaf, which helps it hide.
?How big is the herald moth?
Its wings are about 44 millimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Scoliopteryx libatrix
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Herald
Where the facts come from
- Herald (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 Holger Krisp. CC BY 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 hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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