Sooty Lipocosmodes Moth

Lipocosmodes fuliginosalis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Crambidae

Also called: Sooty Lipocosmodes, sooty cosmodes

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Sooty Lipocosmodes Moth
Photo: Ken-ichi Ueda, CC BY

The sooty Lipocosmodes moth has a wingspan of about 13 to 15 mm. It is the only species in its genus and lives in North America, from Quebec down to Florida and west to Texas and Illinois. Adults can be seen on the wing from January through November.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 13 to 15 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adults are active from January to November.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 33 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alabama, Maryland, Mississippi, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kentucky.

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

Source: GBIF

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

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Sooty Lipocosmodes Moth photo 2
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Sooty Lipocosmodes Moth photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Sooty Lipocosmodes Moth photo 4
Photo: Dominic, CC BY
Sooty Lipocosmodes Moth photo 5
Photo: Paul Bedell, CC BY-SA

Same family (Crambidae)

Box Tree MothBox Tree MothCydalima perspectalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsCelery Leaftier MothCelery Leaftier MothUdea rubigalisElegant Grass-veneerElegant Grass-veneerMicrocrambus elegansHawaiian Beet Webworm MothHawaiian Beet Webworm MothSpoladea recurvalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsGarden Grass-veneerGarden Grass-veneerChrysoteuchia culmellaDamages trees, gardens or cropsBluegrass Webworm MothBluegrass Webworm MothParapediasia teterrellusDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.

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.