Pale beauty
Its caterpillar is a looper with legs only near the front and rear of its body, and it strongly resembles a small twig.
| Where | Deciduous forests and wooded parks |
|---|---|
| Size | 28 to 51 mm wingspan |
| When | May to September |
The Pale beauty is a soft green to whitish moth with two faint, straight lines crossing both the fore and hindwings and a small dark dot near the center of each wing.
Caterpillars are loopers that move by arching their bodies because they lack legs in the middle segments, and they feed on the leaves of alder, birch, oak, willow, and other deciduous trees across forests and wooded parks.
Traits
Habitat
Woodland
Colour
Green, White
Active
Night
To people
Comes to lights after dark and does not bite or sting people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Cream colored with a dusting of yellowish brown scales across both wings, without the pale green tint and green edged lines typical of the Pale beauty.
Questions
Is the Pale beauty dangerous to people?
Comes to lights after dark and does not bite or sting people.
When can you see the Pale beauty?
The Pale beauty can be seen from May to September, at night.
Plate retouched from a photo by aarongunnar, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist Licence
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Butterflies and moths›Geometer moths›Campaea
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.