Spodoptera littoralis ( Boisduval, 1833 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 427

Spodoptera littoralis ( Boisduval, 1833)

COMMON NAME (S): Tomato Worm, African Cotton Leafworm, African Cotton Leafworm Moth, African Cotton Leafworm Moth, Egyptian Cotton Leafworm, Mediterranean Brocade, Cotton Leafworm.

SYNONYM(S): Hadena retina Freyer, 1845 ; Prodenia testaceoides Guenée, 1852a .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Algeria, Angola, British Indian Ocean Territory, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Ghana,

Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Middle East,

Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Near East, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Réunion, Saint Helena _

Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia,

South Africa, Spain (Canary Islands), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria , Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab

Emirates, Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Lusaka, in Lusaka Province; Monze, in Southern Province; Mkushi and Mumbwa, in Central Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Larval foodplants include Rubus sp. (Rosaceae) , Solanum sp. (Solanaceae) and Pelargonium sp. (Geraniaceae) in Saint Helena ( Karisch 2001; McLachlan 1878), Solanaceae species Solanum americanum

Mill. and Brunfelsia uniflora (Pohl) D.Don and Lamiaceae species Thymus vulgaris L. and Coleus sp.

in the Réunion ( Martiré & Rochat 2008); Gossypium sp. (Malvaceae) and Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae)

in South Africa ( Prinsloo & Uys 2015); and Gossypium sp. and Hibiscus sp. (Malvaceae) , Musa sp.

(Musaceae) and Chrysanthemum sp. (Asteraceae) , elsewhere in Africa (Hacker et al. 2010; McKinley

1968). No specific larval foodplants have been reported for the taxon in Zambia.

SOURCES: De Prins & De Prins 2022; Hacker et al. 2010; Karisch 2001; Martiré & Rochat 2008; McKinley 1968; McLachlan 1878; Prinsloo & Uys 2015; Strand 1909a –h.