Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Noctuidae Scientific name Spodoptera latifascia | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Spodoptera Rank Species | |
Similar Spodoptera ornithogalli, Spodoptera dolichos, Spodoptera albula, Elaphria nucicolora, Elaphria | ||
Spodoptera latifascia, commonly known as the lateral-lined armyworm, garden armyworm, or velvet armyworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae found from Central America and the Antilles into North America (from Texas to Florida). S. cosmioides, which can be found in South America (from Argentina up to Costa Rica), was formerly considered a separate species, but has been placed in synonymity with S. latifascia
The wingspan is about 42 mm. Adults are on wing from March to October depending on the location.
The larvae feed on various low-growing plants and garden crops such as tomato and eggplant. They are sometimes mistaken for a color variety of the yellow-striped armyworm.
References
Spodoptera latifascia Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA