Water Veneer Moth vs North American Pygmy Mole Cricket

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Water Veneer Moth North American Pygmy Mole Cricket
Scientific Name Acentria ephemerella Neotridactylus apicialis
Order Lepidoptera Orthoptera
Family Crambidae Tridactylidae
Size 10-14 mm wingspan (males) 5-7 mm
Habitat Ponds & Lakes Rivers & Streams
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Europe, North America Eastern United States
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Water Veneer Moth

A unique aquatic moth whose larvae live entirely underwater in freshwater lakes. Females are often wingless and spend their whole lives below the water surface.

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Did You Know?

Wingless females mate underwater and never leave the lake where they were born.

North American Pygmy Mole Cricket

A minute mole cricket found on sandy shores of rivers and ponds in North America. It burrows just beneath the wet sand surface.

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Did You Know?

Its hind tibiae bear paddle-like swimming plates that allow it to skim across the surface of water when flooded out of its burrow.