Bug FAQMesogona rubra
Mesogona rubra · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae
Mesogona rubra is a moth in the Noctuidae family with forewings 18 to 21 mm long. It lives in western North America, from Washington’s Cascade Mountains through the Klamath range and down the Pacific coast to central California, including the Sierra Nevada. The caterpillars feed on the shrub Arctostaphylos columbiana and probably other Arctostaphylos species.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Mesogona rubra belongs to the moth family Noctuidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The length of its forewings ranges from 18 to 21 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on Arctostaphylos columbiana and likely other species of the same plant genus.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range includes those western U.S. mountain and coastal regions.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Oregon, California.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
Questions people ask
What do the larvae of Mesogona rubra eat?
The caterpillars feed on the shrub Arctostaphylos columbiana and probably other Arctostaphylos species.
Source: Wikipedia
How large are adult Mesogona rubra moths?
Their forewings measure about 18 to 21 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Noctuidae)
Ipsilon Dart MothAgrotis ipsilonDamages trees, gardens or crops
Fall Armyworm MothSpodoptera frugiperdaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Army Cutworm MothEuxoa auxiliarisDamages trees, gardens or crops
Large Yellow UnderwingNoctua pronubaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Silver ΥAutographa gamma
American DaggerAcronicta americanaCan irritate skinSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesogona_rubra
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.