''Leucania venalba'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

first described by

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

in 1867. It is found in Indo-Australian tropics of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. Forewings brown without a distinct pale spot at the discal end found on other related species. Half a dark-edged white line runs down the middle of each forewing. Hindwings off white with some darkening basally. The caterpillar is a semi looper. Early

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

s are grey, which become greener with each developing instar while eating. Head golden brown. A broad, double, purple-brown dorsal line is visible. Late instars brownish with minute dark markings. Underparts pale olive brown. Larval food plants are several grasses and ''

Oryza ''Oryza'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. It includes the major food crop rice (species ''Oryza sativa'' and ''Oryza glaberrima''). Members of the genus grow as tall, wetland grasses, growing to tall; the genus includes both annual an ...

'' species.

References

External links

Occurrence law of armyworm in China and its identification and preventionStudy on the spatial distribution pattern and sampling technique for larvea of mixed populations of ''Leucania separata'', ''Leucania venalba'' and ''Leucania lorcyi'' in rice fieldInsecticidal Control of ''Agrotis infusa'' (Boisd.) and ''Leucania unipuncta'' (Haw.) in Field CropsMolecular Phylogeny of Indonesian Armyworm ''Mythimna'' Guenée (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Hadeninae) Based on CO I Gene Sequences
Moths of Asia Moths described in 1867 Hadeninae {{Hadeninae-stub