![]() | Common Cutworm (previously known as Perigea tonsa) ACRONICTINAE, NOCTUIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern,
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory)
The adult moth of this species has brown forewings each with a complex pattern of orange, black, and white.
The hindwings are white shading to brown at the margins. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.
The species has been found all over Australia, including:
Like all NOCTUOIDEA, the adult moth has a haustellum under the head which is normally kept coiled up, but can be uncoiled straight to sip fluids such as nectar.
Further reading :
Achille Guenée,
Noctuélites,
in Boisduval & Guenée:
Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
Volume 9, Part 5, Section 1 (1852), p. 232.
Peter Marriott & Marilyn Hewish,
Moths of Victoria - Part 9,
Cutworms and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (C),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2020, pp. 6-7, 10-11.
![]() caterpillar | ![]() butterflies | ![]() Lepidoptera | ![]() moths | ![]() caterpillar |
(updated 23 August 2012, 21 August 2019, 12 December 2020, 19 May 2022)