72.034 : 2054 : 10,525

Eribidae : Arctiinae

Crimson Speckled

UTETHEISA pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Kind permission - © Tim Norriss

Life Cycle Guide

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Description

  Wingspan: 29 - 42mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Estonia,Finland,N Aegean Is.,Norway,N W Russia,Slovenia,Sweden) : Africa - (Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Chad, DRCongo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, La Reunion, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe) : Australia : Asia Minor : Central & southern Asia :
UK Distribution: Rare immigrant from southern Europe recorded in southern England
UK Conservation Status -

• Migrant

European Conservation Status -

• Least Concern

Original Species Name -

• Phalaena pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758)

Type Species - Utetheisa

• Phalaena ornatrix Linnaeus, 1758

Type Locality -

• Southern Europe, Mauretania

Flight Period: June - July & August - October - can appear anytime during summer or autumn as a migrant
Habitat: Europe - Dry Open Places - in Portugal I found this moth very close to the sea feeding on a path leading to the beach
Similar Species -

• None

Larva: The 30mm final instar larva is black and variable with yellowish white dorsal line,missing in some cases,with red or black segment bands edged with black dots, and small red markings on and below the spiracular line which is yellow.There are long setae which are black dorsally and white along the sides. Head is brown.
Pupa: Pupates in a cocoon
Overwinters as:  Europe - Larva
Observations: This stunning moth is resident in southern Europe and Africa spreading its range eastwards to Asia and Australia. It migrates northwards where it has been recorded spasmodically approximately 100 times in the last century where it usually is found in the southern counties any time during summer and autumn.
The larva is polyphageous feeding on a wide range of herbaceous plants although there is no evidence of breeding taking place here.
The moth is attracted to light.

Photo Gallery

Crimson Speckled - Utetheisa pulchella - (Linnaeus, 1758) - Bolonia, Spain - 24 September 2014 - © Tim Norriss

Larval Food Plants Worldwide

Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.

• Alliaceae - Allium Family
  • Allium cepa ascalonicum - Shallot
• Boraginaceae - Borage - Forget-me-not Family
  • Anchusa officinalis - Alkanet, Common bugloss
  • Borago officinalis - Borage, Common borage,Cool-tankard, Tailwort
  • Echium vulgare - Viper's Bugloss
  • Cynoglossum furcatum - Indian Hound's-tongue
  • Cynoglossum officinale - Hound's Tongue
  • Heliotropium europaeum - European Heliotrope
  • Heliotropium indicum - Indian heliotrope
  • Myosotis arvensis - Field Forget-me-not
  • Myosotis scorpioides - Water Forget-Me-Not, True forget-me-not
  • Senna uniflora - Oneleaf Senna
  • Trichodesma indicum - Indian Borage
    
  • Trichodesma zeylanicum - Camel Bush
    
• Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
  • Crotalaria assamica - Indian Rattlebox
  • Crotalaria burhia - Saniya
  • Crotalaria juncea - Indian Hemp
  • Crotalaria micans - No Common Name
  • Crotalaria pallida - Smooth Rattlebox
  • Crotalaria quinquefolia - Buli-lawa
  • Melilotus indicus - Sweet Clover
• Musaceae - Banana Family
  • Musa paradisiaca - Plantain
• Poaceae - Gramineae - True Grasses Family
  • Oryza sativa - Asian Rice
• Solanaceae - Bedstraw Family
  • Capsicum annuum - Sweet Pepper
  • Lycopersicon esculentum - Tomato

Larval Food Plants

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Taxonomy

Kingdom:
Subkingdom:
Phylum:
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Accepted Species Name:

Type Species - UTETHEISA:

Original Species Name:
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Literary Ref:

Type Locality:

Subspecies:

Animalia
Eumetozoa
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Noctuoidea
Erebidae
Arctiinae
Arctiini
UTETHEISA Hübner 1819
Utetheisa pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Phalaena ornatrix Linnaeus, 1758
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PHALAENA pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758)
= Noctua pulchra [Schiffermüller], 1775
= Lithosia amabilis Trost, 1801
= Deiopeia thyter Butler, 1877
= Utetheisa pulchella completa Weymer, 1908
= Deiopeia pulchella bicolor Oberthür, 1911
= Deiopeia pulchella arcuata Oberthür, 1911
= Utetheisa thytea Rothschild, 1914
= nigromaculata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= rubrior Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= rufomarginata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= nigrolineata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= designata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= confluens Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= delunulata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= duplolunulata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= albosignata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= separata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= ochreomaculata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= brunneomarginata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= rubrogrisea Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= albociliata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= depuncta Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= unipunctata Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= brunneocephala Stetter-Stättermayer, 1939
= Utetheisa shyama Bhattacherjee & Gupta, 1969
= Utetheisa shiba Bhattacherjee & Gupta, 1969
= Utetheisa menoni Bhattacherjee & Gupta, 1969
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Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.534  - n.238
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Southern Europe, Mauretania
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U. p. pulchella (Linnaeus, 1758) - Nominate Subspecies
U. p. antennata (Swinhoe, 1893) - Nicobar Is.India
U. p. kallima Swinhoe, 1907 - Angola
U. p. dilutior Rothschild, 1910 - Angola,Congo