Black and White Tiger Moth - Spilosoma glatignyi
From the Arctiidae family, Spilosoma glatignyi is a stunning looking moth which despite its beauty, apparently tastes pretty awful in order to discourage predators. It sports bright red colors to visually signal its distasteful nature, but apart from predators that may find it roosting during the day, it would serve little purpose and possibly has another function. However to advertise to potential predators at night, it uses a high pitched vocalisation to warn them (particularly bats) that they are not worth eating. The larvae protect themselves with a covering of irritating hairs and feed from a wide variety of plant species.
The dark wing markings vary from a very dark brown (virtually black) to a pale brown, but the white and red coloration seem consistent. Their body length is between 2-3 cm (1") and have been noted in the Esperance region immediately after light autumn rain, which is usually during April or May, although they seem to be running late this year (probably due to dry weather) and will probably (hopefully) appear in June.
