Heliotrope Moth

Description:

Utetheisa Hübner, [1819], is a genus of arctiid moths in subfamily Arctiinae. Utetheisa is sometimes placed in the tribe Callimorphini or in tribe Nyctemerini. Caterpillars of many Utetheisa species feed on Crotalaria (rattlebox), a member of the pea family, and hence the genus as a whole is often called rattlebox moths (though note that "Crotalaria Moth" specifically refers to U. lotrix). The adults are usually bright and colorful. Utetheisa pulchelloides Hampson, 1907, called the Heliotrope Moth is very similar to Utetheisa lotrix (Cramer, 1779), also called the Salt and Pepper Moth. The only difference in the forewing markings that seems to be consistent (as noted by Holloway 1988) is the presence in U. pulchelloides of a red patch at the tornus (the bottom corner at the end of the wing). These links provide the ID keys to differentiate between the two species: http://www.hkmoths.com/noc/arc/ute-lot.h... http://www.papua-insects.nl/insect%20ord...

Habitat:

Backyard, spotted inside the garage.

Notes:

At least 8 Utetheisa species have been reported to be existing in the Philippines - http://szmn.eco.nsc.ru/Arctiidae/Arctiin.... Other Reference: http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life... http://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-6/arct... http://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-6/arct... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utetheisa http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Salt-and...