It pupates in its silken shelter.

(Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

The adult moth has black and white forewings, and orange hindwings with a black margin and a black spot in the middle. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

close-up nof head
(Photo: by Samantha Bennett, courtesy of Martin Bennett, Prenzlau, Queensland)

The species occurs in the northern half of Australia, including

The moth normally covers it hindwings with the cryptically marked forewings. It flashes the forewings open to reveal the hindwings when feeling threatened. Viewed from some angles, the spots on the hindwings can look like the eyes of a monster, which may help repel predators.

viewed from on top, looking like the face of a monster
(Photo: by Samantha Bennett, courtesy of Martin Bennett, Prenzlau, Queensland)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 8.29, p. 349.

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 189.

Francis Walker,
Pyralides,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 17 (1859), pp. 282-283, No. 1.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 135.

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(updated 6 November 2010, 13 February 2016, 14 January 2021)