Biston panterinaria is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Geometridae family. It is found in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 (Liaoning, Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet), India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 and Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

.
Adults mimick the pattern of distasteful or poisonous species of the genus Abraxas

Abraxas (moth)

Abraxas is a genus of moth in the family Geometridae.-Species:* Abraxas adilluminata Inoue, 1984* Abraxas albiplaga * Abraxas albiquadrata * Abraxas antinebulosa Inoue, 1984...

. The wings are white and scattered with pale grey markings, which are rarely present basally of the hindwing postmedial line. The base of the forewing is grey and has a large brown patch, accompanied by a yellowish brown antemedial line.

Subspecies

• Biston panterinaria panterinaria (northern China)
• Biston panterinaria sychnospilas (Prout, 1930) (Japan)
• Biston panterinaria exanthemata (Moore, 1888) (India, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Yunnan and Tibet)

Biston panterinaria lienpingensis (Guangdong, China), Biston panterinaria szechuanensis (Sichuan, China) and Biston panterinaria abraxata (Jiangxi, China) are now considered synonyms of Biston panterinaria panterinaria.