Noctuoidea - Noctuidae

OF BIOSECURITY CONCERN

Classification

Noctuoidea

Noctuidae (armyworms, cutworms, semi-loopers) 11,772 approximate described species

Subfamilies with target pests: Hadeninae, Noctuinae, Heliothinae, Plusiinae

Chief Distribution

Cosmopolitan particularly in the tropics.

Major Hosts of Concern

Sugarcane, cotton, maize, sorghum, rice, grapes, Cucurbitaceae, Gramineae, Brassica, Solanum

Further Diagnosis

The subfamilies can be divided into two groups based on wing venation: the trifines and quadrifines. It is unknown whether this family is monophyletic, with the ultimate composition of this family still being debated. There is no suprageneric classification available for Noctuoidea. Identification must begin at the species level.

Hadeninae – trifine venation; hairy eyes

Noctuinae – trifine venation; Agrotis sp. bipectinate antennae ♂; filiform ♀; forewing narrower than hindwing; 2 or 4 spurs on hind tibia with spines

Heliothinae – trifine venation - No easy way to distinguish this subfamily

Plusiinae – Trichoplusia sp. quadrified venation; shiny or silvery markings; ♂ scale tufts on abdomen; orange pencil hairs

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia. National Research Infrastructure for Australia, NCRIS. http://www.ala.org.au/

ABRS 2009. Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/index.html

Barlow HS (1982) An introduction to the Moths of South East Asia, The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.

Butterflies and moths of North America, collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera. National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Program and the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. http://butterfliesofamerica.com/links.htm

CSIRO Australian National Insect Collection Database. http://anic.ento.csiro.au/database/

CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences. Australian Moths Online. http://www1.ala.org.au/gallery2/main.php

Herbison-Evans D, Crossley S. Families of Moths in Australia. http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/moths.html

Holloway JD, Kibby G, Djunijanti P (2001) The families of Malesian moths and butterflies, Fauna Malesiana handbook 3, The Netherlands.

iBol Terrestrial Biosurveillance, Lepidoptera barcode of life. http://www.lepbarcoding.org/

Natural History Museum, The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/lepindex/search/index.dsml

Plant Health Australia (2012) Combined High Priority Pest List from Industry Biosecurity Plans. In National Plant Biosecurity Status Report, last accessed June 2015. http://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/biosecurity/emergency-plant-pests/pest-categorisation/categorised-pests/

Polaszek A (1998) African cereal stem borers: economic importance, taxonomy, natural enemies and control. Wallingford, UK.

The Barcode of Life Data Systems http://www.boldsystems.org/

References

Common IFB (1990) Moths of Australia, p 445. Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria.

Kristensen NP (ed) (1999) Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies: Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography (vol. 1). Handbook of Zoology, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin.

Matthews M (1999) Heliothine Moths of Australia, a guide to pest bollworms and related Noctuid groups. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera (vol. 7) CSIRO Publishing, Victoria, Australia

Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (2015) Entomology Internal Target List. Australian Government Department of Agriculture.

Operational Science Program (2015) Entomology Internal Target List. Australian Government Department of Agriculture.

van Nieukerken EJ, Kaila L, Kitching IJ, Kristensen NP, Lees DC, et al. (2011) Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. In Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An outline of higher level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. Order Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758. Zootaxa. 3148: 212–221.