Bug FAQFestive and Pale-winged Midgets and Allies
Elaphria festivoides · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae
Also called: Festive Midget
Elaphria festivoides is a moth in the Noctuidae family with a wingspan of about 21 to 28 mm. It lives in eastern North America and adults are on the wing from April to July, producing at least two generations each year.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Elaphria festivoides is a moth in the Noctuidae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan measures about 21 to 28 millimeters.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The caterpillars have been reared on boxelder (Acer negundo).
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults fly from April through July and there are at least two generations each year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
You will see adults on the wing between April and July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is found in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Elaphria alapallida was split from this species in 2003, so it can be confused with that moth.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 31 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Same family (Noctuidae)
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American DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skinSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaphria_festivoides
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.