Diagnosis. The forewings are shades of grey and black as illustrated. The darkest area is an approximate triangle medially, based on the costa and bounded by the irregular postmedial and a pale grey streak that runs from it subdorsally straight to the costa about 3mm from the base. The paler apical patch grades almost to white at its curved posterior border.
Geographical range. Old World tropics east to Australia, Samoa and the Cook Is.; introduced to Hawaii.
Habitat preference. One specimen labelled just ‘Sarawak’ has been seen.
Biology. The larva of a closely related but probably undescribed species was reared by Bell (MS) in India. It is typical of the genus in shape. The primary setae arise from small dark chalazae amid a general watery dark green body colour with indistinct, white, dorsolateral and spiracular lines.
The larvae live stretched out on the undersides of leaves or a stalk or twig. Pupation is in the soil in a cell or an ovoid silken cocoon to which the pupa is attached by the cremaster.
The adult of this reared species is larger than that of laceratalis but is similar in facies except the forewing tornal area is a more uniform pale grey, without a darker submarginal mark; the male genitalia are distinct.
The host plant recorded by Bell was Asteracantha (Acanthacaceae). This genus is not listed in Mabberley, but is probably Hygrophila (G.S. Robinson, pers. comm.), but Robinson et al. only noted Hemigraphis in this family and also Lantana (Verbenaceae) for laceratalis. The species has been introduced in the Pacific area for control of Lantana (Robinson, 1975; Holloway, 1977), a predominantly New World host genus (Mabberley, 1987) absent from the native range of the moth species, though related species of Hypena occur with the plant genus in Africa.
