Agrotis munda Walker, [1857]
(one synonym: Euxoa injuncta)
Brown or Pink Cutworm
 NOCTUINAE ,   NOCTUIDAE

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

Agrotis munda
(Photo: courtesy of Graham Goodyer, NSW Agriculture)

This Caterpillar hides in the soil at the base of the foodplant by day, and climbs the plant to feed by night. It feeds on a wide variety of herbaceous plants:

  • Lucerne ( Medicago sativa, FABACEAE ),
  • Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum, MALVACEAE ),
  • Maize ( Zea mays, POACEAE ), and
  • Tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum, SOLANACEAE ).

    and other crops and weeds. Its habit of feeding on crops makes it an agricultural pest.

    As the Caterpillars grow, the later instars become darker, until they end up dark brown. They grow to length of about 5 cms.

    The pupa is enclosed in a cocoon under the soil.

    Agrotis munda
    (Photo: courtesy of Alan Melville, Tasmania)

    The adult moths have a complex grey-brown pattern on the forewings. The hindwings are white. At rest the moth holds its wings like a tent over its body. The moth has a wingspan of about 5 cms.

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

    The species is found on the Pacific islands and

  • New Zealand,

    as well as over most of Australia, including:

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

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 50.6, pp. 43-44, 64, 467.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 197.

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    (updated 19 December 2010)