Spodoptera picta

Spodoptera picta (Guerin-Meneville, [1831])
(one synonym : Callogramma festiva)
AMPHIPYRINAE , NOCTUIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

Spodoptera picta
(Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

These Caterpillars are smooth-skinned and pale grey with a series of longitudinal black lines, and with dark patches on the mesothorax and the last abdominal segment. The central dorsal line becomes yellow in later instars .

(Photo: courtesy of Darren O'Connell)

They are a pest in suburban gardens in Sydney, damaging a variety of species from the Amaryllis family ( AMARYLLIDACEAE ), including :

Kaffir Lily ( Clivea miniata ),

Swamp Lily ( Crinum pedunculatum ),

Spider Lily ( Hymenocallis littoralis ), and

Amaryllis ( Hippeastrum species ).

The caterpillars bore into the leaves and down into the crown of the bulb, growing to a length of about 5 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of Daniel Brown, Meadowbank, Sydney)

They pupate with no cocoon in the soil near the food plant.

(Photo: courtesy of Roy Ward)

The adult moth is very pretty. Its wings have a buff base colour, and the forewings have a pattern of red and black markings. The body is brown. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The eggs are laid in a mass on the underside of a foodplant leaf and covered in pale brown hairs. The mass has a width of about 7 mm.

(Specimen: courtesy of Daniel Brown, Meadowbank, Sydney)

The species occurs from India to Samoa, including:

Borneo,

Guam,

Taiwan,
and in Australia in:

New South Wales, and

Queensland.