The wings of this species are buffish yellow (the males tend to be more yellow than the females) and are typically marked with a diagonal row of dark spots on the forewing and a few other scattered spots on both forewings and hindwings. The extent of black markings varies considerably, however, from almost spotless examples to largely blackmelanic forms. Thewingspan is 34–42 mm. The species flies from May to July in theBritish Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range. It is attracted to light.
Thelarva is pale brown and very hairy. It ispolyphagous, feeding on a wide variety oftrees,shrubs andherbaceous plants (see list). This species overwinters as apupa.
Spilarctia lutea rhodosoma(Turati, 1907) Sicily, the black of the upperside is increased by a larger number of the spots; but especially distinguished by the bright red abdomen.
^Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian J.; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2010)."Entry forSpilarctia luteum".HOSTS - A Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants.Natural History Museum, London. Archived fromthe original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved18 October 2017.
