Mamestra dictyota Lower, 1902
Well-marked Armyworm
 (one synonym : Dasygaster eutycta Turner, 1939)
HADENINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Cathy Powers, Brisbane Ranges, Victoria)

The adult moth of this species has patterned dark brown forewings, including two white spots. The hindwings are grey-brown. There is a bilobed crest of hairs at the front of the thorax which is white edged with brown. The wingspan is about 3.5 cms.


(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria)

The species has been found in

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria, and
  • Tasmania.


    male, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Dasygaster eugrapha    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume V (1905), Plate XCI, figure 12,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.


    female, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Polia dictyota    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume V (1905), Plate LXXXII, figure 14,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    The genus into which this species should be placed is controversial.

    Further reading :

    Oswald B. Lower,
    New Species of Australian Lepidoptera,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 26 (1901), pp. 643-644.

    Peter Marriott & Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 9,
    Cutworms and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (C)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2020, pp. 26-27.

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    (updated 15 October 2011, 26 December 2022)