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Spodoptera
exempta Walker
Agrotis
exempta Walker, 1856, List Specimens lepid insects Colln Br. Mus., 32:
355.
Prodenia
bipars Walker, 1857, Ibid. 11: 724.
Prodenia
ingloria Walker, 1858, Ibid. 15: 1679.
Spodoptera
exempta Walker; Brown & Dewhurst, 1975: 243.
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Spodoptera
exempta 
(Sulawesi)
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Diagnosis. This
species has narrower forewings than the species already discussed, but is best
distinguished from these more weakly marked species by the forewing orbicular
which is obliquely elliptical rather than circular.
Geographical
range. Old
World tropics (see Haggis, 1984).
Habitat
preference. Only
two specimens have been taken in Borneo, one from coastal Brunei (Seria) and the
other from 900m on G. Api, Sarawak. In its range the species is most successful
in seasonal savannah habitats.
Biology. The
migratory patterns in Africa of the adult have been discussed in detail by
Haggis (1984).
The larva is a
notorious armyworm pest of pasture in Africa, and also has had recorded
outbreaks in Australia. Like S. mauritia and S. cilium it has
chisel-like mandibles, square in external view, the dorsal margin straight (Brown
& Dewhurst, 1975). The gregarious phase is largely black, but the solitary
phase may lack black markings and is best distinguished by the mandibular
characters, illustrated by Brown & Dewhurst.
It feeds on a wide
range of Gramineae and some Cyperaceae.
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