Schlaeger's Fruitworm Moth

Antaeotricha schlaegeri · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Depressariidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.

The adult moth has a wingspan of about 2 to 3 centimeters. It looks like a bird dropping, which helps it avoid predators.

How to recognize it

Adults are patterned to resemble a bird dropping.

The wingspan ranges from 21 to 30 millimeters.

It is found in northeastern North America, down to North Carolina and westward to Kansas and Texas.

Caterpillars feed on white oak and related oak species, and have also been recorded on birch.

The moth’s bird-dropping mimicry can cause it to be mistaken for actual bird droppings.

Recorded in 39 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Georgia.

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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

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Source: GBIF

What do the larvae eat?

The caterpillars feed on white oak, other oak species, and sometimes birch.

How can I recognize the adult moth?

Adults look like bird droppings, which is a key identification feature.

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

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