[Background] The coconut black-headed caterpillar, Opisina arenosella Walker, is one of the significant pests of palm plants. We investigated the biological basis for the sterile insect technique (SIT) of O. arenosella as a potential measure to control this pest. [Method] O. arenosella fecundity, development and survival rates were studied under controlled conditions of (28±2)℃ and (70±10)% relative humidity and fed with mature coconut Cocos nucifera leaves. [Result] During the experiment, O. arenosella laid about 170 eggs per female, with a net reproductive rate of 55.4, and doubling time of 9.6 days. These results indicated that O. arenosella could be massively reared in lab conditions, hence become an insect resource for SIT. O. arenosella exhibited protandry with sex ratio of 1:1.04. Preoviposition and oviposition were short indicating that mating might be simple, thus facilitating male sterilisation. Female pupa was larger than male, which was helpful to separate male and female during SIT. The estimated developmental threshold temperature was 11.5℃, and estimated effective accumulated temperature was 996.9 degree days. The predicted number of generations per year in Hainan was 4~5. This ecological information provided more realistic estimates of O. arenosella population and sterile moth ratios needed for desired levels of control. [Conclusion and significance] This paper showed the potential for SIT of O. arenosella and provided information for further development of a SIT program.