Angel Moth

Olceclostera angelica · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Apatelodidae

Also called: The Angel

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Angel Moth
Photo: Christopher Zacharias, CC BY

The angel moth has a wingspan of about 32 to 42 mm. It lives in deciduous forests across eastern North America, from Quebec and Maine down to Florida and west to Texas and Wisconsin. Adults are active from May through September.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 32 to 42 mm (1.3 to 1.7 in).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in deciduous forest habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae eat the leaves of ash (Fraxinus) and lilac (Syringa) species.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adults are on the wing from May to September.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 34 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Alabama, Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Questions people ask

When can I expect to see adult angel moths?

Adults are active from May through September.

Source: Wikipedia

What trees do angel moth larvae feed on?

The caterpillars eat leaves of ash and lilac species.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Apatelodidae)

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olceclostera_angelica

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.