Ornate Bella Moth

Habitat:

Found in a disturbed area next to a new housing development.

Notes:

Several of these moths were flying ahead of me as I walked. When flying you see their pink underwings. They lay their eggs on their main host plant Crotalaria. The larva feed on leaves then penetrate the seed pods to feed on the immature seeds. These seeds have a higher concentration of toxic alkyloids than the leaves. They retain the alkyloids and pass them on to the adults.