White ermine
The white ermine is a fluffy, milky white moth sprinkled with little black dots. Under its wings it hides a bright orange tummy with black spots. It looks a bit like a tiny fur coat.
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Fun facts
Birds do not eat it because it is poisonous. Its bright orange tummy is a warning.
No two look quite the same. Some have pure white wings, others are covered in black dots, and in northern Scotland some are sandy yellow.
Its caterpillar is brown and very hairy, with an orange-yellow stripe down its back.
It flies from May to September, depending on where it lives.
The male has long feathery feelers to help it find a female.
Most asked questions about White ermine
?Is the white ermine moth poisonous?
It is poisonous for birds to eat, but it is harmless to touch or watch.
?What does the white ermine caterpillar eat?
Nettles, dandelions, alfalfa and some other plants.
?How big is the white ermine moth?
Its wings are 3,4 to 4,8 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Spilosoma lubricipeda
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Erebidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Erebidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Spilosoma lubricipeda (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 Mathias Krumbholz. 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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