Marbled White Moth

Nyctemera coleta · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Erebidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Marbled White Moth
Photo: Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India, CC BY-SA

The marbled white moth belongs to the subgenus Coleta in the family Arctiidae. It occurs from India across to the Philippines and from Japan down to Papua New Guinea. Males have a distinctive large tuft of hair on the base of the foreleg tibia, and the wing cilia are white in specific areas.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Male moths show a large hair tuft at the base of the foreleg tibia. The wing edges have white cilia below the apex and at the outer and anal angles.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is classified in the subgenus Coleta of the genus Nyctemera, family Arctiidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Four subspecies are recognized.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It differs from Nyctemera tripunctaria by having the lower three spots of the forewing post-medial band separated, plus an extra spot toward the outer angle.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Marbled White Moth photo 3
Photo: Firos AK, CC BY

Same family (Erebidae)

Spongy MothSpongy MothLymantria disparDamages trees, gardens or cropsFall Webworm MothFall Webworm MothHyphantria cuneaDamages trees, gardens or cropsBrown-tail MothBrown-tail MothEuproctis chrysorrhoeaCan irritate skinIsabella Tiger MothIsabella Tiger MothPyrrharctia isabellaVirginian Tiger MothVirginian Tiger MothSpilosoma virginicaCan irritate skinSalt Marsh MothSalt Marsh MothEstigmene acrea

Sources

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

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.

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