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Agrotis
ipsilon Hufnagel
Phalaena ipsilon Hufnagel, 1766, Berlin Magaz. 3: 275.
Noctua suffusa Denis & Schiffermuller, 1776, Wien.Verz.p.80.
Noctua ypsilon Rottemburg, 1776, Naturf. 9:141.
Phalaena idonea Cramer, 1780, Uitl. Kapellen 3: 275.
Bombyx spinula Esper, 1786, Schmett. 3: 63.
Bombyx spiniferus Haworth, 1803, Lep. Brit., p. 114.
Agrotis telifera Harris, 1841, Report Ins. Massachusetts p. 323.
Agrotis bipars Walker, 1857, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br.
Mus. 10: 334.
Agrotis frivola Wallengren, 1860, Wien ent. Monatschr. 4: 169.
Agrotis aneituma Walker, 1865, List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln Br.
Mus. 32: 701.
Agrotis ipsilon Hufnagel; Holloway, 1976: 6.
Diagnosis.
The general
forewing facies with darker costal zone and other markings on a fawn ground, but
particularly the narrow black triangle distal to the reniform and extending into
the double postmedial, distinguishes this species.
Taxonomic
notes. The
typical form extends to Sulawesi; ssp. aneituma Walker, with much darker
wings, flies from the Moluccas eastwards and in Australia.
Geographical
range. Almost
cosmopolitan excepting high latitudes, arid areas and lowland rainforests. (CIE,
1969; Carter, 1984).
Habitat
preference. In
the Indo-Australian tropics the species is montane, descending to lower
altitudes where cultivation occurs. On. G. Kinabalu the species was taken from
1000m to 2600m.
Biology.
Carter
(1984) has described the early stages. The larva is dark purplish brown and
grey, the integument bearing minute sclerotised platelets. It is a typical
cutworm in shape with small primary setae only. The grey colour occurs in a
broad dorsal band and over the ventral half. It feeds on a wide range of
herbaceous plants including crops in the families Cruciferae, Chenopodiaceae,
Compositae, Gramineae and Solanaceae, severing plants at ground level in typical
cutworm fashion and attacking roots and tubers.
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