Whilst birdwatching in Dhahran I found a
Crimson-speckled Footman Utetheisa
pulchella. The Crimson-speckled Footman is a small, day flying moth
measuring approximately 30-40mm in length. They are mostly white, speckled with
black and crimson and have characteristic black eyes. The legs are white in
colour and the antennae are black. The moth is found from Africa to southern
Europe, throughout the Middle East, central & southern Asia and Australia.
They are migratory moths but I assume the ones I have been seeing in the last
few days are residents? They are seen every year in Dhahran in February and
March and are not very easy to see until you flush one from its resting place
and it flies to its new location. They very rarely, if ever, land with their
wings spread and almost always end up in a position similar to that in the
photograph below.
