#2453 · 🦋 butterflies & moths
Diamondback Moth
🇳🇱 Koolmotje ·Plutella xylostella
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © ingridaltmann · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Tom Murray · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Robert Briggs · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. © augochlora · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © botswanabugs · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Marion Maclean · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Annika Lindqvist · CC BY 4.0
- 8. © Martin Grimm · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Young Chan · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Ryzhkov Oleg · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The diamondback moth ( Plutella xylostella ), sometimes called the cabbage moth , is a moth species of the family Plutellidae and genus Plutella . The small, grayish-brown moth sometimes has a cream-colored band that forms a diamond along its back. The species may have originated in Europe, South Africa, or the Mediterranean region, but it has now spread worldwide.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 395 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 43,138 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Diamondback Moth
- Nederlands
- Koolmotje
- scientific name
- Plutella xylostella
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Lepidoptera
- family
- Plutellidae
- sightings in NL
- 395
- sightings in Europe
- 14,633
- sightings worldwide
- 43,138
- GBIF records in NL
- 52,906
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 126765, Wikidata Q1050343, GBIF 1831136, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.