Variegated Pearl

Synclera traducalis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Crambidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Variegated Pearl
Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0

The variegated pearl is a small moth with a wingspan of about 20 to 23 mm. It belongs to the Crambidae family and is recorded from many countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Its caterpillars feed on Gouania polygama and two Ziziphus species.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Synclera traducalis, known as the variegated pearl, is a moth in the family Crambidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The adult’s wingspan ranges from 20 to 23 mm (0.79 to 0.91 in).

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on the plants Gouania polygama, Ziziphus jujuba and Ziziphus mauritiana.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its known range includes the same list of countries as its habitat.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas.

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

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Variegated Pearl photo 3
Photo: Tonton Bernardo, CC BY-SA 3.0
Variegated Pearl photo 4
Photo: Dr. Alexey Yakovlev, CC BY-SA 2.0
Variegated Pearl photo 5
Photo: yakovlev.alexey from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0
Variegated Pearl photo 6
Photo: yakovlev.alexey from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0

Questions people ask

What plants do the larvae of the variegated pearl eat?

The caterpillars feed on Gouania polygama and two Ziziphus species (Z. jujuba and Z. mauritiana).

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Crambidae)

Box Tree MothBox Tree MothCydalima perspectalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsCelery Leaftier MothCelery Leaftier MothUdea rubigalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsElegant 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/Synclera_traducalis

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

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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.