Venomoth is an insectoid creature with a light purple body. It has bulbous, round eyes with large pupils and a small mandible. Its thorax is paler with several black, zigzagging stripes running across the horizontal length. It has six short legs and a three-point crest on its head. Its two pairs of wings are covered in dust-like, purple scales that vary in color depending on their toxic capability. Dark scales are poisonous, while lighter scales can cause paralysis. These scales are released when Venomoth flutters its wings.
Venomoth live in dense forests with much undergrowth and little light. As a nocturnal Pokémon, Venomoth comes out at night to hunt of its favorite prey. It prefers to feed on insects that gather around light, and Venomoth is attracted to bright lights itself.
At the beginning of Mewtwo Strikes Back, a pirate Trainer by the name of Raymond used a Venomoth to battle alongside his Golem and Pinsir. Raymond's Golem, Pinsir and Venomoth fought Ash's Pikachu and were defeated afterwards.
In The Bug Stops Here, Jessie dressed as a Venomoth in order to attract Bug types, however this did not work as she scared a real Venomoth away, causing it to use Stun Spore.
Venomoth, an evolved form of Venonat. Tiny scales on its wings disperse various spores when they are flapped.
In the manga
Venomoth in Pokémon Adventures
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Venomoth debuts in The Secret of Kangaskhan in the Red, Green & Blue arc where Blue defeats a wild one but doesn't catch it because he already has one. This was the first Pokémon to be shown with a Pokédex entry. Another wild one appears when Red partakes in the bike race held in Route 11.
The dust-like scales covering its wings are color coded to indicate the kinds of poison it has. It has a short life span, and appears to be the evolved form of a Venonat.
Venomoth is nocturnal - it is a Pokémon that only becomes active at night. Its favorite prey are small insects that gather around streetlights, attracted by the light in the darkness.
Venomoth are nocturnal — they only are active at night. Their favorite prey are insects that gather around streetlights, attracted by the light in the darkness.
In early official art of Venomoth, it was shown having yellow spots on the back of its wings. This was removed when later official artwork was released.
Venomoth shares the same species name with Dustox. They are both known as the Poison Moth Pokémon.
Origin
Venomoth's ability to poison its enemies and its type combination suggests that it may have been based on a moth in the Arctiidae family. Its Japanese name may mean it may also have been influenced by the Morphinae subfamily of butterflies; its wings' design seems to be heavily influenced by Morphinads.
Name origin
Venomoth is likely a combination of venom and moth.