Garden webworm moth
Garden Webworm caterpillars spin loose silk shelters over host leaves and can strip entire rows of beans or alfalfa within days.
| Where | Fields, gardens and crop margins |
|---|---|
| Size | 17 to 23 mm wingspan |
| When | March to October |
This small moth is buff to tan with irregular light and dark gray shading and a zigzag pattern crossing the forewings, and it darts in short low flights when disturbed from field vegetation.
Caterpillars spin loose silk shelters over the leaves of beans, alfalfa, corn and other crops, sometimes appearing in numbers large enough to strip garden plantings.
Traits
Habitat
Farmland
Colour
Brown, Grey
Active
Night
To people
Harmless to people, though the caterpillars can be a nuisance on garden crops.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Close in size and overlapping in range across the southern United States, it is difficult to separate from the Garden Webworm Moth by wing pattern alone and is best confirmed by close examination.
Questions
Is the Garden webworm moth dangerous to people?
Harmless to people, though the caterpillars can be a nuisance on garden crops.
When can you see the Garden webworm moth?
The Garden webworm moth can be seen from March to October, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by Susan Blayney, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Grass moths›Achyra
Last updated 2026-09-27. Every entry is checked against published sources.