Walnut Spanworm Moth

Phigalia plumogeraria · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Geometridae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Walnut Spanworm Moth
Photo: Don Loarie, CC BY

The walnut spanworm moth belongs to the family Geometridae. It is a species of geometrid moth.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The walnut spanworm moth is a geometrid moth in the family Geometridae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah.

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

Walnut Spanworm Moth photo 2
Photo: Don Loarie, CC BY
Walnut Spanworm Moth photo 3
Photo: Lindsey K. Wise, CC BY
Walnut Spanworm Moth photo 4
Photo: Garth Harwood, CC BY
Walnut Spanworm Moth photo 5
Photo: Daniel Levitis, CC BY

Same family (Geometridae)

Willow BeautyWillow BeautyPeribatodes rhomboidariaPale BeautyPale BeautyCampaea perlataLarge Lace-border MothLarge Lace-border MothScopula limboundataDamages trees, gardens or cropsSouthern Pine and Cypress AnglesSouthern Pine and Cypress AnglesMacaria bicolorataRiband WaveRiband WaveIdaea aversataYellow Shell MothYellow Shell MothCamptogramma bilineata

Sources

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

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.