Asota heliconia (Linnaeus, 1758)
 (one synonym : Hypsa perimele Weymer, 1885)
AGANAINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Asota heliconia
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The caterpillars of this species are orange with dark sides and a dark dorsal line.

Asota heliconia underside
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Queensland)

The adult moths of this species have black forewings each with a long white triangle extending from the base. The hindwings are white, each with three black spots and a broad black margin. The body is a contrasting yellow with black spots. The underside is similar to the upper surface. The wingspan is about 6 cms.

Asota heliconia
male, listed as Phalaena silvandra,
engraving by Gerrit Wartenaar, printed and painted by Firma S.J. Baalde, for Caspar Stoll,
Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen, Vol. 4 (1782), Plate CCCLXIX, fig. D,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Asota heliconia
female, listed as Phalaena monycha,
engraving by Gerrit Wartenaar, printed and painted by Firma S.J. Baalde, for Pieter Cramer,
Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen, Vol. 2 (1779), Plate CXXXI, fig. C,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

This species has been found across south-east Asia as various subspecies, in :

  • Borneo,
  • Hong Kong,
  • Philippines,
  • Thailand,

    and also in Australia as subspecies dama (Fabricius, 1775) in

  • Queensland.

    Asota heliconia underside
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 19.25, p. 442.

    Carl Linnaeus,
    Insecta Lepidoptera,
    Systema Naturae,
    Volume 1, Edition 10 (1760), Class 5, Part 3, p. 511, No. 82.

    Pieter Cramer,
    Description de Papillons Exotiques,
    Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 2 (1779), p. 52, and also Plate 131, fig. C.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 12.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 6.

    Caspar Stoll,
    Description de Papillons Exotiques,
    Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 4 (1782), p. 155, and also Plate 369, fig. D.

    Gustav Weymer,
    Exotische Lepidopteren. III. Beitrag zur Lepidoperen-Fauna von Nias,
    Stettiner entomologische Zeitung
    Volume 46, Parts 4-6 (1885), pp. 275-276, and also Plate 2, fig. 3.

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    (updated 15 February 2013, 1 July 2025)