Civil Rustic Moth

Caradrina montana · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Noctuidae

Damages trees, gardens or crops. It feeds on alfalfa leaves, which can damage crops.

Source: Wikipedia

Civil Rustic Moth
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

The Civil Rustic Moth has a wingspan of about 26 to 31 mm. It is a small noctuoidea moth found across western North America, western Asia and Europe. Its larvae feed on alfalfa leaves, making it a potential crop pest.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Caradrina montana is a small moth belonging to the Noctuoidea family.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The wingspan ranges from 26 to 31 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

The moth feeds on alfalfa leaves.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range includes western North America, western Asia and Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 23 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Montana, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Washington, New Mexico, Alaska, Kansas.

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

Civil Rustic Moth photo 2
Photo: Hillbros, CC BY-SA
Civil Rustic Moth photo 3
Photo: Jason Grant, CC BY
Civil Rustic Moth photo 4
Photo: Charles Swift, CC BY
Civil Rustic Moth photo 5
Photo: Jared Shorma, CC BY

Questions people ask

What does the Civil Rustic Moth eat?

It feeds on alfalfa leaves.

Source: Wikipedia

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/Caradrina_montana

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.