(Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 27 April 2008)
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.
This Caterpillar hatches from a group of eggs laid by its mother on a leaf of the foodplant. It is dark blue with yellow stripes and orange spots, and is covered with stiff sparse short hairs. It feeds on
and grows to a length of about 3 cms.
The moth is white with black and red patches on its wings, and is very similar to that of Utetheisa pulchelloides. The most obvious difference is having no red spot at the tornus of each fore wing:
It has a wingspan of about 3 cms. Its pheromones have been elucidated.
The species is found around the tropics of much of the world, including :
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 46, 434.
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 182.
 caterpillar |
 butterflies |
 caterpillars |
 moths |
 caterpillar |