Lobster moth
The lobster moth is a soft grey brown moth that hides on tree trunks in the day. The real star is its caterpillar, which looks like a tiny lobster with long thin legs and a big swollen tail end. When something bothers it, it throws its head back and spreads its legs to look scary.
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Fun facts
A newly hatched caterpillar looks and wriggles like an ant or a small spider, which helps keep hungry birds away.
The tiny caterpillars guard their empty eggshells and chase away any other caterpillar that comes too close.
The caterpillar can grow to 7 centimetres long.
Resting on a branch, the reddish brown caterpillar blends in so well that it is very hard to spot.
It spins a strong cocoon between dead leaves and turns into a moth there.
Most asked questions about Lobster moth
?Why is it called the lobster moth?
Because its caterpillar, with its long legs and swollen tail end, looks a bit like a lobster.
?Is the lobster moth caterpillar dangerous?
No. It only pretends to be scary by arching its head back and spreading its legs.
?What does the lobster moth caterpillar eat?
Leaves of trees like beech, oak, birch, hazel and walnut.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Stauropus fagi
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Notodontidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Notodontidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Lobster prominent
Where the facts come from
- Lobster 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 Kulac. 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 hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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