The Indian owlet-moth is a large Asian moth with a big swirling, comma-shaped mark on each forewing. It lives across East, Southeast, and South Asia and is not found in the United States. Seen as a whole, the wing pattern is often compared to the face of a snake with its mouth slightly open.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Wingspan is about 2.5–3 in (64–76 mm) in males and 2.6–3.5 in (66–88 mm) in females. Males are dark brown with a crimson abdomen marked by black triangles; females are paler and more ochre, with an orange-scarlet underside.
Look-alikes
Spirama helicina
Very similar overall, but S. helicina is more brightly colored. Photos often aren't enough to tell them apart.
Why they get mixed upSame genus; older books treated it as a form of S. retorta.
Where it lives
- Range
- Native to East, South, and Southeast Asia: China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and nearby countries. It does not occur in North America.
Life cycle
- Larva
- In Malaysia the caterpillars feed on plantation acacias such as brown salwood (Acacia mangium) and on Falcataria moluccana. A 1992 outbreak there damaged about 800 hectares (roughly 2,000 acres) of young brown salwood.
- Caterpillar food plants
- Acacias and related trees in the pea family.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.