Animal field guide
Green-blotched Moth
Eudocima salaminia
A large fruit-piercing moth of tropical forest edges and orchards. After dark, adults drive a stout proboscis, its tip armed with small barbs and ridges, through the skin of ripe fruit and drink the juice inside.
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Get AnimalDexGreen-blotched Moth at a glance
Invertebrate · South Asia · Tropical and subtropical forest · Relatively common
Known for: Forewings green with pale whitish margins, Hindwings orange with black markings and border, Large, Rests with forewings folded like a roof
Animal field guide
Green-blotched Moth
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A large fruit-piercing moth of tropical forest edges and orchards. After dark, adults drive a stout proboscis, its tip armed with small barbs and ridges, through the skin of ripe fruit and drink the juice inside.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Tropical and subtropical forest, forest edges, orchards and gardens where the larval food vines grow, from India through Southeast Asia to northern and eastern Australia and some Pacific islands.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
6
Speed
40
Size
7
Intelligence
11
Rarity
33%
Total
97
Size scale
STEP 2 · PROVE IT
STEP 3 · BATTLE & FUSE
Understand the animal
Understand the Green-blotched Moth
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Green-blotched Moth
A large fruit-piercing moth of tropical forest edges and orchards. After dark, adults drive a stout proboscis, its tip armed with small barbs and ridges, through the skin of ripe fruit and drink the juice inside.
How to identify a Green-blotched Moth
- Forewings green with pale whitish margins
- Hindwings orange with black markings and border
- Large, heavy-bodied moth
- Rests with forewings folded like a roof
Why Green-blotched Moth are interesting
- Its caterpillar has a pair of large eyespots on the sides of the body toward the front, which it flashes by arching when disturbed, as in related fruit-piercing moths.
- In citrus orchards of Australia and Asia it is a pest, because feeding punctures let rot and fungi into the fruit, which then drops early.
- The orange hindwings stay hidden under the green forewings at rest and are suddenly exposed when the moth is disturbed, which is thought to startle predators.
- It belongs to the family Erebidae, in a genus of fruit-piercing moths that also includes the widespread orchard pest Eudocima phalonia.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Green-blotched Moth behave this way?
- Forewings green with pale whitish margins
- Hindwings orange with black markings and border
- Large, heavy-bodied moth
- Rests with forewings folded like a roof
Nocturnal. It spends the day motionless in foliage with its forewings folded roof-like over the body, and becomes active after dusk.
04
Why Tropical and subtropical forest?
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical forest, forest edges, orchards and gardens where the larval food vines grow, from India through Southeast Asia to northern and eastern Australia and some Pacific islands.
Native range: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia & Oceania
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Tropical and subtropical forest, forest edges, orchards and gardens where the larval food vines grow, from India through Southeast Asia to northern and eastern Australia and some Pacific islands.
05
Why this diet?
Adults drink fruit juice, piercing ripe fruit, especially citrus, and also other soft tropical fruit. Caterpillars eat the leaves of vines in the moonseed family.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Nocturnal. It spends the day motionless in foliage with its forewings folded roof-like over the body, and becomes active after dusk.
Nobody has measured how long adults of this species live. In other fruit-piercing moths, adults are reported to survive for several weeks.
07
Green-blotched Moth reproduction
Eggs are thought to be laid on or near moonseed vines. The caterpillars grow through several stages and reportedly pupate in a shelter of leaves and silk; clutch size is poorly documented.
The sexes look very similar and are not reliably told apart in the field.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 33/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 33/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
Speak to the animal
Speak to the Green-blotched Moth
It answers as itself: ask about how it lives, or bring it something of yours and hear what it would do, from its own Power.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 100/day.
Compare
Compare the Green-blotched Moth
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Battled in the Arena
No one has taken a Green-blotched Moth into an Arena battle yet. Battles players fight with this animal in the AnimalDex app show up here.
Where to find them
Where to find Green-blotched Moth
To find Green-blotched Moth in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside south Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia & Oceania than by covering too much ground.
- Forest edge, canopy gaps, fruiting trees, or shaded trails where cover and food meet
- Headlands, reef edges, island colonies, tidal channels, or productive coastal water
- Protected habitat blocks within south Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia & Oceania
Scientific name
Eudocima salaminia
Category
Invertebrate
Habitat
Tropical and subtropical forest, forest edges, orchards and gardens where the larval food vines grow, from India through Southeast Asia to northern and eastern Australia and some Pacific islands.
Rarity
Relatively common · 33/100
Native range
South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia & Oceania
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