About Olepa ricini (Fabricius, 1775)
Olepa ricini (Fabricius, 1775) closely resembles the much less widely distributed species Olepa ocellifera. It differs from O. ocellifera only by lacking the chain-like series of small yellow-banded black spots located between the large spots on the forewings; these spots are present in O. ocellifera. In *The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II*, Hampson described both species with the following details for Olepa ricini: The head and thorax are dark grey-brown. The collar is fringed with crimson, and bears a pair of pale-ringed black spots. The tegulae have two pairs of similar spots, and the vertex of the thorax has one similar spot. The abdomen is crimson, with a series of short dorsal black bands and lateral spots. The fore wing is fuscous brown, with very numerous pale-ringed black spots in the interspaces. The hind wing is crimson, with antemedial, medial, postmedial, and marginal bands and more or less conjoined blotches. The variety clavatus has an orange hind wing, while the variety zerah has a yellow hind wing. The larva is dark brown speckled with white, with dorsal and lateral tufts of long dark hair. As a caterpillar, it is a minor pest of cotton, castor, sunflower, gingelly, maize, ivy gourd, brinjal, sweetpotato, banana and Cucurbita crops.
