Geometer moth Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Geometer moth Temporal range: Eocene to Recent 35 mya to present

Chiasmia species
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Geometroidea
Family:	Geometridae

Geometer moths are a very large family of moths. There are more than 23,000 different kinds, or species, of Geometer moths! Most of them are active at night, but a few fly during the day.

Adult Geometer moths have wings that can be from 10 mm (about 0.4 inches) to 70 mm (about 2.7 inches) wide. Their young, called caterpillars, move in a special way. It looks like they are "measuring the earth" as they crawl. Because of this, their caterpillars are often called inchworms.

One well-known type of Geometer moth is the peppered moth (Biston betularia). Sometimes, many of these moths can cause problems for plants, so they are seen as pests.

Adult Geometer Moths
Geometer Moth Caterpillars
Images for kids
See also

Adult Geometer Moths

An adult Selenia tetralunaria moth

Many adult Geometer moths have thin bodies and wide wings. They usually hold their wings flat so you can see their back wings. They might look a bit like butterflies, but they are true moths. Most of them fly when it's dark.

They have a special hook-like part called a frenulum that connects their front and back wings. The male moths often have feathery antennae. Geometer moths are very good at blending in with their surroundings, which is called camouflage. This helps them hide from animals that might want to eat them. In some species, the female moths have very small wings and cannot fly.

Geometer Moth Caterpillars

How a geometer moth caterpillar moves

Most caterpillars have four pairs of legs in the middle of their body. But geometer moth caterpillars are different; they only have two pairs of legs in their middle section. This means they cannot move like other caterpillars.

To move, they first grab onto something with their front legs. Then, they pull the rest of their body forward, making a loop. Next, they hold on with the legs at the back of their body. Finally, they push their front part forward again. This way of moving often makes them look like the Greek letter Omega (Ω), as you can see in the picture.