Bug FAQAmerican Copper Underwing
Amphipyra pyramidoides · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae
Also called: Copper Underwing, Rearhumped Caterpillar, Copper Underwing Moth
Source: Wikipedia
Adult American Copper Underwings have brown forewings with dappled pattern and white hindwings marked by a black cross line and coppery orange shading. The caterpillars are green with a white line along the back, yellow spots, and a distinctive hump on the eighth abdominal segment. One generation appears each year, with adults flying from July to October and overwintering as eggs.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Caterpillars are green, have a white middorsal line, yellow spots, and a hump on segment eight.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The wingspan ranges from about 38 to 52 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Newly emerged adults gather under bark and similar places in midsummer.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae eat leaves of many broadleaf trees and shrubs such as apple, maple, oak, walnut, raspberry, grape and greenbrier.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is one generation per year and the species overwinters as eggs.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing from July through October, depending on location.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It occurs throughout the United States and into southern Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 48 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia.
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
More photos
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/Amphipyra_pyramidoides
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.