Insects › Pyralid Snout Moths

Cactus Moth

Cactoblastis cactorum

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in Alabama.January 8, February 9, March 9, April 17, May 12, June 8, July 6, August 6, September 8, October 8, November 7, December 7.
United States222
Alabama105
Australia95
South Africa80
Queensland63
Eastern Cape31
New South Wales26
Western Cape23
Argentina20
Hawaii15

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Physical

  • MetamorphosisUndergoes dramatic body transformation during developmentFrom its classification
  • ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification

Group and habits

  • Animal pollinatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly pollinate flowers.Inferred from its group

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumArthropods · Arthropoda
ClassInsects · Insecta
OrderButterflies and Moths · Lepidoptera
FamilyPyralid Snout Moths · Pyralidae
GenusCactoblastis

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise Cactus Moth with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.