Pale oak beauty
The Pale oak beauty's caterpillar is bare and gnarled, colored and shaped so closely like a broken oak twig that it is easily overlooked even at close range.
| Where | Broadleaved woodland, scrub and gardens |
|---|---|
| Size | 46 to 55 mm wingspan |
| When | May to August |
The Pale oak beauty is a grey white moth with a brownish tinge, fine dark speckling and clear cross lines, along with a pale centred, dark ringed mark on each forewing; it closely resembles the rarer Great oak beauty but has a plain underside to the forewing tip.
Caterpillars feed on oak, birch and several other broadleaved trees and overwinter as pupae, and adults fly between May and August, common in broadleaved woodland, scrub, parks and gardens.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Grey, Brown
Active
Night
To people
Attracted to light; harmless to people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Similar in size and cryptic pattern but scarcer and restricted to old oak woodland, told apart by the underside of the forewing tip, which is dark with a pale spot rather than plain as in the Pale oak beauty.
Questions
Is the Pale oak beauty dangerous to people?
Attracted to light; harmless to people.
When can you see the Pale oak beauty?
The Pale oak beauty can be seen from May to August, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by LiCheng Shih, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Geometer moths›Hypomecis
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.