Persectania dyscrita Common, 1954
Inland Armyworm
 HADENINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Persectania dyscrita
(Photo: courtesy of Cesar Australia)

This Caterpillar is an agricultural pest, causing damage to pastures and crops.

The adult moth has fawn forewings with a pattern of pale and dark lines. The hindwings are buff, darkening to the margin, with dark veins. It has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

Persectania dyscrita
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The species has been found all over Australia, including:

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    The pest may be controlled using :

  • spraying with insecticides,
  • beetles such as Calosoma species ( CARABIDAE),
  • flies such as Palexorista species, ( TACHINIDAE),
  • wasps such as Apanteles ruficrus ( BRACONIDAE), and
  • nematodes such as Steinernema carpocapsae ( STEINERNEMATIDAE).

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 65.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    The Australian armyworms of the genus Persectania (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae),
    Australian Journal of Zoology,
    Volume 2 (1954) p. 94.

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

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 198.

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    (updated 14 November 2010, 17 September 2013, 26 November 2014, 24 December 2020, 21 April 2022)