It is distributed in most of the Old World tropics, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Réunion, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines, New Caledonia, Australia,[1][2] and New Zealand.

[citation needed] It is an introduced species in many other parts of the world, including Hawaii,[3] continental Spain and the Canary Islands, Portugal, Great Britain,[1] Turkey,[4] Cyprus,[2] India and Sri Lanka.

[citation needed] The flat, elliptical eggs are deposited singly or in masses on the leaf blade's upper surface along the midrib.

The species is strictly nocturnal, with all major developmental steps (mating, egg laying, hatching of the young larvae, larval feeding, moulting, pupation and eclosion) taking place at night.

The larvae feed on various grasses of the family Poaceae such as Cenchrus clandestinus, Cynodon dactylon, Echinochloa crus-galli, Ischaemum, Lolium perenne, Oryza sativa, Panicum, Paspalum dilatatum, Pennisetum, Sorghum and Zea mays, as well as on Acanthus ebracteatus in the Acanthaceae, Gomphrena globosa in the Amaranthaceae, Nephelium lappaceum in the Sapindaceae, Senna siamea in the Fabaceae, and the king fern Angiopteris evecta in the Marattiaceae.