Brown-tipped Thorn

Selenia alciphearia · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Geometridae

Also called: Northern Selenia, Northern Selenia Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Brown-tipped Thorn
Photo: Desiree L. Narango, CC BY

The brown-tipped thorn is a geometrid moth in the family Geometridae. It is found across North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Selenia alciphearia, known as the brown-tipped thorn or northern selenia, belongs to the Geometridae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

This moth occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 22 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Washington, Alaska, Oregon, North Carolina, Vermont, Montana, New Hampshire, Massachusetts.

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

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Brown-tipped Thorn photo 2
Photo: Dutza K., CC BY
Brown-tipped Thorn photo 3
Photo: Desiree L. Narango, CC BY
Brown-tipped Thorn photo 4
Photo: Brodie Cass Talbott, CC BY
Brown-tipped Thorn photo 5
Photo: Norma Malinowski, CC BY

Same family (Geometridae)

Willow BeautyWillow BeautyPeribatodes rhomboidariaPale BeautyPale BeautyCampaea perlataLarge Lace-border MothLarge Lace-border MothScopula limboundataDamages trees, gardens or cropsSouthern Pine and Cypress AnglesSouthern Pine and Cypress AnglesMacaria bicolorataRiband WaveRiband WaveIdaea aversataYellow Shell MothYellow Shell MothCamptogramma bilineata

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

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.