Forgotten Frigid Owlet

Nycteola metaspilella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nolidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Forgotten Frigid Owlet
Photo: John P Friel, CC BY

It occurs in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Francis Walker first described this species in 1866.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

The species lives 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 28 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas.

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

Forgotten Frigid Owlet photo 2
Photo: harrier, CC BY
Forgotten Frigid Owlet photo 3
Photo: John P Friel, CC BY
Forgotten Frigid Owlet photo 4
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Forgotten Frigid Owlet photo 5
Photo: NC Moth Project, CC BY-SA

Questions people ask

Where is the Forgotten Frigid Owlet found?

It is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Nolidae)

Green Silver-linesGreen Silver-linesPseudoips prasinanaSmall Baileya MothSmall Baileya MothBaileya australisConfused Meganola MothConfused Meganola MothMeganola minusculaGum Leaf SkeletoniserGum Leaf SkeletoniserUraba lugensDamages trees, gardens or cropsEyed Baileya MothEyed Baileya MothBaileya ophthalmicaSorghum Webworm MothSorghum Webworm MothNola cereellaDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

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

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.