Miresa Moth

It was raining heavily on that day, I saw a brown hairy moth sitting the shade of Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) leaf. It had dull yellowish body, pale yellow hindwings and rufous brown forewings with yellowish white patches. I used Canon EOS 5D mark II with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens using Rayflash on my Canon Speedlite 580EX II

Thanks to Roger C. Kendrick of Hong Kong Moths I could Identify it as Miresa Species of moth belonging to Limacodidae family of moths in the superfamily Zygaenoidea. They are often called slug moths because their caterpillars bear a distant resemblance to slugs. They are also called cup moths because of the shape of their cocoons. They are mostly tropical, but occur worldwide, with about 1000 described species and probably many more as yet undescribed species.

They are small, hairy moths, with reduced or absent mouthparts and fringed wings. They often perch with their abdomens sticking out at 90 degrees from the thorax and wings. Caterpillars of these moths are typically very flattened, and instead of prolegs they have suckers. The thoracic legs are reduced, but always present and they locomote by rolling waves rather than walking with individual prolegs. They even use a lubricant, a kind of liquified silk to move on.

The Limacodidae are perhaps best known for their slug-like larvae, sometimes smooth, but usually invested with urticating spines that can cause profound irritation to the skin, leading to their common name of ‘nettle-grubs’. The larvae of most species appear to be polyphagous, feeding on a wide range of plant families. No obvious examples of specificity have been located.

The Limacodidae family larvae attack a wide variety of crops, mainly trees and shrubs such as coconut palm (Elaeis, Cocos), banana (Musa, Musaceae), coffee (Coffea, Rubiaceae), tea (Camellia, Theaceae), cocoa (Theobroma, Sterculiaceae), Citrus various (Rutaceae), mango (Mangifera, Anacardiaceae), and rambutan (Nephelium, Sapindaceae).