Painted Handmaiden Moth

Description:

Amata cyssea moths are commonly known as Handmaiden moths that are day-flying members of the Arctiidae or Tiger moth family and Subfamily Syntominae. They mimic wasps in their body and coloration. Even for a predator who does not get deterred by wasps, the occasional bright body colors usually advertise a bad taste, so Handmaidens flourish. The genitalia are asymmetric in both sexes. In the male the tegumen has prominent lateral lobes. The valves have strong, curved, asymmetric processes from the base of the costa and are themselves asymmetric. The aedeagus vesica contains a row (or rows if it has more than one lobe) of small cornuti, some of which can become very long. In the female genitalia the ostium is set asymmetrically between the eighth and seventh tergites.