Tropical tiger moth

Description

Asota caricae, the tropical tiger moth, is a species of noctuoid moth in the family Erebidae. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics of India and Sri Lanka to Queensland and Vanuatu. The wingspan is 51–58 mm. Palpi with black spots on 1st and 2nd joints. Forewings brownish fuscous. There is a basal orange patch with two subbasal black spots and a series of three spots on its outer edge, that matches the coloration of the scales of the thorax. The veins are streaked with white. There is a white spot at lower angle of the discal cell. Hindwings are orange yellow, with a black spot at the end of the discal cell, one beyond, one below vein 2 and a submarginal irregular series which sometimes becomes a nearly complete marginal band. The veins crossing the band are yellowish. Larva black above, with two dorsal white bands, a sub-dorsal black spot on each somite. A series of lateral black specks present with sparse black hairs. Ventral coloration brown, head capsule is reddish. The larvae have been recorded on Ficus, Broussonetia, Mesua, Tectona and Shorea species. Pupation is in a slight cocoon, fixed to a leaf. The species is found in forest and agricultural areas. Asota is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1819. Species are widely distributed throughout Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Malayan region and tropical parts of the Australian region. Palpi upturned, where the second joint reaching the vertex of the head and the third joint is slender in variable lengths. Antennae fasciculated (bundled) in males and ciliated (hairy) in females. Forewings with vein 5 from the lower angle of cell or just above it. Vein 6 from the upper angle or below it. Areole absent. Hindwings with vein 5 from just above lower angle of cell. Veins 6 and 7 from the upper angle. The genus was formerly placed in the families Noctuidae and Arctiidae by some authors. Other authors placed them in the family Aganaidae or Hypsidae. Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that the Aganainae are most closely related to the Herminiinae (litter moths), and this pair of subfamilies is most closely related to the Arctiinae (tiger and lichen moths), all within the family Erebidae.