Calyptra minuticornis, the vampire moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It has been found in Indonesia, Java, India, Sri Lanka, and Australasia.[1]
Its wingspan is about 50 mm. The antennae of the male are minutely ciliated. Forewings with rounded outer margin.[2] Head and thorax pale reddish brown and thickly irrorated with grey. Abdomen pale fuscous. Forewings with pale red-brown with a silvery sheen and numerous fine pale striae. There are traces of sub-basal, antemedial, and medial oblique line present. A rufous line runs from apex to inner margin beyond middle. A series of submarginal specks present. Hindwings pale fuscous and cilia whitish. Larva olive-grey with a sub-dorsal series of black-bordered yellow spots. A sub-lateral series of specks enclosed from fourth somite by a pinkish bordered black line. Head ochreous, with paired lateral black spots. Legs pale pink.[3]
The caterpillar feeds on Stephania japonica, Cissampelos, Cocculus and Cyclea species. It pupates in a cocoon between joined dead leaves in ground debris. The adult is a fruit piercer and also observed to pierce skins of buffalo, zebu, tapir and even humans in labs to suck blood.[4] [5]
. George Hampson . 1894 . The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II . Taylor and Francis . Biodiversity Heritage Library.