Bug FAQAgrotis daedalus
Agrotis daedalus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae
Agrotis daedalus is a moth in the Noctuidae family with a wingspan of about 38 mm. It lives across the Great Plains, from west Texas and New Mexico up to southern Alberta and central Saskatchewan. Adults appear in early spring and there is one generation each year.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Agrotis daedalus belongs to the moth family Noctuidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The species has a wingspan of roughly 38 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found throughout the Great Plains region.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The moth produces one generation per year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing in early spring.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, northern Nevada, southern Alberta and central Saskatchewan.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 7 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Montana, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
Questions people ask
How many generations does Agrotis daedalus have each year?
There is one generation per year.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Noctuidae)
Ipsilon Dart MothAgrotis ipsilonDamages trees, gardens or crops
Fall Armyworm MothSpodoptera frugiperdaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Army Cutworm MothEuxoa auxiliarisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Large Yellow UnderwingNoctua pronubaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Silver ΥAutographa gamma
American DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skinSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrotis_daedalus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.