''Utetheisa pulchelloides'', the heliotrope moth, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. It is found in the Indo-Australian region including

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, Papua,

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

, most of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

,Tenerife, La Línea de la Concepción ádizand Greece. The species was first described by

George Hampson Sir George Francis Hampson, 10th Baronet (14 January 1860 – 15 October 1936) was an English entomologist. Hampson studied at Charterhouse School and Exeter College, Oxford. He travelled to India to become a tea-planter in the Nilgiri Hills ...

in 1907. Adults undertake extensive and frequent migratory flights and can reach the most remote oceanic islands, such as Henderson Island and Ducie Island.

Description

Hindwing of male with no fold or glandular tuft on inner margin. Head and thorax yellowish. Collar and tegula each with two black spots. Each thoracic segment with one each black spot. Third joint of palpi black and abdomen whitish. Forewing white with five interrupted scarlet bands with series of black spots between them. A marginal series of black spots present. Hindwings are semi-diaphanous white, but some specimen with black on the discocellulars. A very irregular black sub-marginal band, broad at apical area and between veins 1b and 3. Larva dark grey with a dorsal white band and sub-dorsal series of red spots. Head yellow. It pupates in a loose cocoon that spun in the leaf litter on the ground below the food plant.

Ecology

The larvae feed on '' Argusia argentea'', ''

Echium plantagineum ''Echium plantagineum'', commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss, Paterson's curse or Salvation Jane, is a species of the genus '' Echium'' native to western and southern Europe (from southern England south to Iberia and east to the Crimea), no ...

'', ''

Heliotropium arborescens ''Heliotropium arborescens'', the garden heliotrope or just heliotrope, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae, native to Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Common names also include cherry pie and common heliotrope. It is an ...

'' and ''

Myosotis arvensis ''Myosotis arvensis'' or field forget-me-not is a herbaceous annual plant, annual to short lived perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is native to Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Siberia, the western Himalayas, ...

''.

Subspecies

* ''Utetheisa pulchelloides pulchelloides'' Hampson, 1907 (Chagos Islands, Seychelles, Amirantes and Cargados Carajos Islands) * ''Utetheisa pulchelloides aphanis'' Jordan, 1939 (islands south-east of New Guinea) * ''Utetheisa pulchelloides darwini'' Jordan, 1939 (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) * ''Utetheisa pulchelloides marshallorum'' Rothschild, 1910 (Marshall Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Swain's Island, Tonga, Tokelau Islands, Phoenix Islands, Tuvalu, Gilbert Islands, Wake Island, Cook Islands, Line Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Henderson Island) * ''Utetheisa pulchelloides papuana'' Jordan, 1939 (New Guinea) * ''Utetheisa pulchelloides umata'' Jordan, 1939 (Guam) * ''Utetheisa pulchelloides vaga'' Jordan, 1939 (China: Guangdong, Guanxi, Yunnan; Taiwan; Madagascar; islands of the Indian Ocean; Sri-Lanka; south-east Asia; Moluccas; Australia; New Zealand) '' Utetheisa salomonis'' (including the former '' Utetheisa pectinata ruberrima'') may also belong into this species.

Gallery

Image:Utetheisa_pulchelloides.jpg Image:Utetheisa_pulchelloides_dorsal.jpg, Dorsal view Image:Utetheisa pulchelloides ventral.jpg, Ventral view Image:Utetheisa pulchelloides head.jpg, Head Image:Heliotrope Moth (Utetheisa pulchelloides).jpg,

References

pulchelloides Moths of Japan Moths of Mauritius Moths of Seychelles Moths of Réunion Moths of New Zealand Moths of Madagascar Moths of Australia Moths of Indonesia Moths described in 1907 {{Callimorphina-stub