The species was first described by British entomologist Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1869.

[2] The species is native to a wide range of tropical South-East Asia: Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

[3] It is also recorded from Andaman Islands, southern China, the Himalayas,[4] and sporadically in East Asia: Taiwan, Japan[3] and South Korea.

[8][9] The genus Lyssa is generally categorized as a nocturnal or crepuscular group, but this species has been found to be active both during the day and at night.

[3][1] The larvae feed on Endospermum and other members of the rubber tree family (Euphorbiaceae).