Mythimna separata
| Oriental Armyworm | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Noctuidae |
| Genus: | Mythimna |
| Species: | M. separata |
| Binomial name | |
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Mythimna separata Walker, 1865 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Northern armyworm, Oriental armyworm or Rice ear-cutting caterpillar (Mythimna separata) is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in China, Japan, South-east Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Eastern Australia, New Zealand, and some Pacific Islands. It is one of the major pest of maize in Asia.
They term “Armyworm” is used because of their habit to spread out in a line across a lawn or pasture, and slowly “marching” forward, meanwhile consuming the foliage they encounter.
The wingspan is 35–50 mm. Males lack paired tufts on basal segment of abdomen below. Forewings are grayish-yellow with dark-gray or reddish-yellow tinge. Round and reniform spots are light or yellowish with indistinct edges, whereas reniform spot with white point at lower margin. External wing margin blackened obliquely from top backward, with dark stroke and with a row of dark points. Hindwings are gray, with dark external margin. Antennae thread-like. Eggs have spherical milky-white with thinly reticulate surface. Larvae usually have 6 instars, rarely seven. It reaching 40 mm in length at last instars. Larva has two wide black-brown and one intermediate light dorsal stripe, with black-brown lateral stripe along spiracle line. spiracles brown with black rim. Pupae are yellowish-brown, and shiny.
The moth flies from January to April depending on the location. The larvae feed on a range of agricultural plants like Zea mays, Sorghum bicolor and Oryza sativa and are thus considered a pest. Caterpillar do not feed on Momordica charantia due to presence of the triterpenoid glucoside called Momordicine II, which is a natural inhibitor of caterpillar actions.
China experiences periodic outbreaks of northern armyworm infestation. The outbreak in 2012 was particularly severe.
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Wikipedia