Leucania loreyi (Duponchel, 1827) - False Army Worm; Cosmopolitan

Taxonomic Information

Leucania Ochsenheimer, 1816 species known from India. 
Leucania albistigma Moore, 1881. India: West Bengal (Darjeeling). 
Leucania basilinea Swinhoe, 1890. Myanmar
Leucania celebensis (Tams, 1935). India; Nepal. 
Leucania corrugata Hampson, 1894. India: Himachal Pradesh
Leucania curvilinea Hampson, 1891. India: Nilgiris.
Leucania designata Walker, 1856. India: Karnataka (“Canara”: TL); Nepal; Myanmar. 
Leucania fragilis (Butler, 1883). India: Himachal Pradesh.
Leucania ineana Snellen, 1880. India: Madhya Pradesh; Nepal. 
Leucania loreyi (Duponchel, 1827). India; Nepal. 
Leucania megaproctis (Hampson, 1905). Sri Lanka.
Leucania percussa Butler, 1880. India: West Bengal.
Leucania roseilinea Walker, 1862. India: Nilgiris.
Leucania polemusa Swinhoe, 1885. India: Maharashtra (Mumbai).
Leucania semiusta Hampson, 1891. India: Nilgiris.
Leucania venalba Moore, 1867. India: West Bengal. 
Leucania uniformis Moore, 1881. NW Himalaya.
Leucania vana (Swinhoe, 1885). India: Maharashtra (Pune).
Leucania vindhyae Hreblay & Legrain, 1999. India: Vindhyas.
Leucania yu Guenée, 1852. India. 

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

Leucania loreyi - False Army Worm; Cosmopolitan


Diagnosis (Based on Moths of Borneo). This species could be confused with Mythimna venalba Moore and Mythimna roseilinea Walker, but is larger with a distinct white fleck at the discal end of CuA in the forewing cell. On the forewing below the postmedial costal brown mark of the other two species is absent in loreyi. The hindwing margin often has dark brown marks on the veins; these are rarely seen in the other two species.

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh1
Chhattisgarh1
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Daman & Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat1
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra11
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Paschimbanga1
Pondicherry
Punjab
Rajasthan1
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand11
West Bengal
Total123111
  1. OD: Noctua loreyi Duponchel, 1827. Hist. nat. Lépid. Fr. 7 (1): 81, pl. 105, f. 7; TL: Dijon. 
  2. Leucania collecta Walker, 1856. List Spec. Lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus. 9: 105; TL: Punjab. Text at https://archive.org/details/listofspecimens09brit/page/105/mode/1up?view=theater
  3. Leucania designata Walker, 1856. List Spec. Lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus. 9: 107; TL: India, Canara. Text at https://archive.org/details/listofspecimens09brit/page/107/mode/1up?view=theater
  4. Hampson, G. F. 1894. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol. 2. Taylor & Francis, London. Arctiidae, Agrostidae, Noctuidae 609 p - 325 figs.pg. 274, # 1191. 
  5. Acantholeucania loreyi (Duponchel); Haruta, T. (Ed.). 1992. Moths of Nepal. Part 1. TINEA. Vol. 13 (Supplement 2). The Japan Heterocerists’ Society, Tokyo.Pl. 15: 11. 
  6. https://www.leps.it/indexjs.htm?SpeciesPages/MythLore.htm
  7. https://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-12/hadeninae/hadeninae_4_16.php as Mythimna loreyi (Duponchel, 1827).
  8. https://www.africanmoths.com/pages/NOCTUIIDAE/HADENIINAE/leucania%20loreyi.html
  9. http://www2.nrm.se/en/svenska_fjarilar/l/leucania_loreyi.html
  10. http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/hade/loreyi.html
  11. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/468734-Leucania-loreyi


 

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Leucania loreyi (Duponchel, 1827) – False Army Worm; Cosmopolitan. In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.72. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://moths.ncbs.res.in/leucania-loreyi, accessed 2024/03/28.