Dot-underwing Moth

Eudocima materna · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Erebidae

Also called: Fruit-Piercing Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Dot-underwing Moth
Photo: Vengolis, CC BY-SA

The dot-underwing moth has a wingspan of roughly 60 to 96 mm. It is found across tropical Asia, New Guinea, Australia and Africa. Its larvae feed on plants in the Menispermaceae family, such as Tinospora smilacina and Legnephora moorei.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Each hindwing shows a small central black dot, and the forewings are greenish-grey with many faint reddish lines and three rufous spots at the end of the cell.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from about 60 mm to 96 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It inhabits tropical regions of Asia, extending to New Guinea, Australia and Africa.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

The species occurs widely in tropical Asia, New Guinea, Australia and Africa.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Florida.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

More photos

Questions people ask

How can I tell this moth apart from other Eudocima species?

Look for a small black dot in the centre of each hindwing and three reddish spots at the end of the forewing cell; the forewings are greenish-grey with many faint reddish lines.

Source: Wikipedia

What do the caterpillars eat?

The larvae feed on plants in the Menispermaceae family, such as Tinospora smilacina and Legnephora moorei.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Erebidae)

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudocima_materna

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.