Paradoxical Grass Moth

Heliocheilus paradoxus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Paradoxical Grass Moth
Photo: Laura Gaudette, CC BY

The adult moth has a wingspan of about 24 to 26 millimetres. It occurs from Ontario and British Columbia southward to California, Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan measures roughly 24 to 26 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Found from Ontario and British Columbia down to California, Arizona, Texas and Florida.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 22 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Paradoxical Grass Moth photo 2
Photo: Sue Carnahan, CC BY
Paradoxical Grass Moth photo 3
Photo: Sue Carnahan, CC BY
Paradoxical Grass Moth photo 4
Photo: Tom Kennedy, CC BY
Paradoxical Grass Moth photo 5
Photo: Elliott Gordon, 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/Heliocheilus_paradoxus

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

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

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.