Persectania ewingii
Encyclopedia
The Southern Armyworm is a moth
of the Noctuidae
family. It is found in the South and East of Australia
and often migrates across the Bass Strait
to Tasmania
.
The wingspan
is about 40 mm.
The larvae feed on Pisum sativum, Linum usitatissimum and Hordeum
species and it is considered a pest on these species. It causes severe damage by chewing through the stems of the foodplant, thus severing the seedheads.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Noctuidae
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....
family. It is found in the South and East of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and often migrates across the Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 40 mm.
The larvae feed on Pisum sativum, Linum usitatissimum and Hordeum
Hordeum
Hordeum is a genus of about 30 species of annual and perennial grasses, native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, temperate South America, and also South Africa....
species and it is considered a pest on these species. It causes severe damage by chewing through the stems of the foodplant, thus severing the seedheads.