Hypercompe ocularia

Hypercompe ocularia, the ocularia leopard, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.^[1]

Ocularia leopard
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Subfamily:	Arctiinae
Genus:	Hypercompe
Species:	H. ocularia
Binomial name
Hypercompe ocularia (Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms
Bombyx ocularia Fabricius, 1775 Ecpantheria cyaneator Walker, [1865] Ecpantheria columbina Oberthür, 1881 Ecpantheria distans Oberthür, 1881

Description

This moth is a translucent-white colour, patterned with numerous brown, oval rings on the forewings.^[1]

Distribution

It is found in Colombia,^[2] Peru and Ecuador. This is a cloud-forest species found at elevations between about 200–1000 m.^[1]

Biology

Moths of the genus Hypercompe are noxious to birds and exhibit warning colouration. When approached by a bird, these moths expose a coloured abdomen and exude noxious fluids as a defence mechanism.^[1]