They grow to about 3 cms. The animal then pupates in a loose cocoon spun in the leaf litter on the ground below the foodplant.

(Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The moth looks quite white when it is flying, but at rest, the pretty pattern of red and black spots on the white fore wings can be seen. Each hind wing is white with two black spots and an irregular black margin. The moth has a wingspan up to about 3 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The adult moth is superficially similar to Utetheisa lotrix, but there are subtle anatomical differences, and the pattern of pink and black spots is different. In particular, there is a red spot at the tornus of each fore wing ( Roger Kendrick). Also the males have a fold along the inner margin of each hindwing covered in hairs which appears to hold a pheromone.

Kiribati 1980

The eggs are pale green and laid in a row on a leaf tip.

The species occurs widely in the Indo-Australian region, including :

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Trevor Jinks, North Burnett)

Note that this is a different species from Utetheisa pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758), which occurs mainly in the northern hemisphere.

The correct genus name is Utetheisa; author Hubner (with an umlaut over the u), 1819. Sometimes it is listed as Utethesia, but this is a misspelling made by Moore in 1860.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 19.15, pp. 46, 434.

Pat and Mike Coupar,
Flying Colours, New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 35.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 183.

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(updated 17 September 2011)