Agrotis interjectionis

Agrotis interjectionis Guenée, 1852
(one synonym is Euxoa vertenteni Hulstaert, 1923)
NOCTUINAE, NOCTUIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

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

Agrotis interjectionis
female
((Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

These Caterpillars are considered a pest in South-East Asia, attacking plants from a wide range of families, including

Onions ( Allium species, ALLIACEAE ),

African Oil Palm ( Elaeis guineensis, ARECACEAE ),

Peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea, FABACEAE ),

Cotton ( Gossypium species, MALVACEAE ),

Sesame ( Sesamum species, PEDALIACEAE ),

Sugar Cane ( Saccharum officinarum, POACEAE ), and

Tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum, SOLANACEAE ).

The adults have grey or brown forewings, each bearing a dark oval, a pale oval, and a dark kidney-shaped mark. The hindwings are off-white, shading to pale brown along the costa and hind-margin. At rest the moth holds its wings like a tent over its body. The moth has a wingspan of about 3.5 cms.

male
((Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The species occurs across south-east Asia including

Java,

Malaysia,

Vanuatu,

as well as in Australia in

Western Australia,

Northern Territory, and

Queensland.

Further reading :

Achille Guenée,
Noctuélites,
in Boisduval & Guenée:
Histoire Naturelle des Insectes; Spécies Général des Lépidoptères,
Volume 9, Part 5 (1852), p. 281, No. 454.

R. P. Gustaaf Hulstaert,
On Lepidoptera from New Guinea, Kei, Teuimher, the Philippines, and Australia,
Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
Volume 9, Part 11 (1923), p. 189.

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(written 18 March 2019, updated 16 February 2021)