Trabala vishnou

Adult

The wingspan is about 67 mm for females and 47 for males. Body color of male is apple green. Antennae ochreous brown. The disk of fore wing and inner margin of hind wing are whitish. Fore wings with a faint pale antemedial line curved below the costa. There is a dark speck at end of cell, and a pale straight oblique postmedial line which becomes medial on the hind wing. Both wings have a series of small submarginal dark spots. Female is yellowish green in color, which fades to ochreous. Lines and spots of both wings are enlarged and blackish. Spot at end of cell of fore wing is large, conspicuous and irrorated with black scales, and sometimes centered with grey. A reddish brown patch thickly irrorated with black occupying whole medial inner area from median nervure to inner margin. Cilia of wings are blackish.

Immatures

Larva has yellow head spotted with red and body color is brownish grey with long lateral tufts on each somite. First somite is black and grey, other somites are grey. There are paired dorsal and lateral black spots on each somite, from which spring long black hairs. Spots on the thoracic somites are coalescing. Instead of usual colored caterpillars, there are two morphs can be found. Some larva are blackish with a broad white dorsal stripe, the anterior tufts are reddish brown in color. The other morph is reddish with blue lateral spots. However, cocoon is ochreous in all morphs with short black hairs projecting from it, which are intensely irritating.

Ecology

Larvae have been reared on Populus species and also feed on castor, jamun, pomegranate, rose, and sandalwood plants. The Braconid wasp, Cotesia trabalae is a known parasitoid of the moth.

Subspecies