Common Apamea Moth

Apamea vulgaris · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae

Also called: Common Apamea

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Common Apamea Moth
Photo: Jim Moore (Maryland), CC BY

The common apamea moth has a wingspan of about 39 mm. Adults fly from May to July.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The common apamea belongs to the Noctuidae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Its wingspan is about 39 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It lives from Nova Scotia down to Kentucky and west to Kansas.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Adults are on the wing from May through July.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

The flight period is May to July.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 21 of 51 states and DC. Most records: North Carolina, Michigan, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Vermont.

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

Common Apamea Moth photo 2
Photo: pachips, CC BY

Same family (Noctuidae)

Ipsilon Dart MothIpsilon Dart MothAgrotis ipsilonDamages trees, gardens or cropsFall Armyworm MothFall Armyworm MothSpodoptera frugiperdaDamages trees, gardens or cropsArmy Cutworm MothArmy Cutworm MothEuxoa auxiliarisDamages trees, gardens or cropsLarge Yellow UnderwingLarge Yellow UnderwingNoctua pronubaDamages trees, gardens or cropsSilver ΥSilver ΥAutographa gammaAmerican DaggerAmerican DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skin

Sources

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

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.

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.