Dear Tesfay,
This moth belongs to the family Noctuidae but it is not a European species.
You are using fall army worm pheromone which should be species specific, but may be catched by chance.
See the following link:
http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/29810#toPictures
Thank you all for the answers. I think the pheromone traps were for trial and are of two types. while two of the pheromone types were catching this type of moth only, the other two were having different types.
You see my problem is that when I tried to compare with the pictures of fall armyworm adults, I could not see any matching.
Seems to me an undescribed species of Spodoptera sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) You should do the dissection of the genitalia of this specimen to compare with similar related species like Spodoptera frugiperda. From which locality did you collect the specimen ? Thanks
It might help if we knew where the moth was collected. Are you in London, or a small village in Yemen?
I assume that this material was from Ethiopia (like Tesfay Belay). I agree with Luis Miguel that this is not one of the described species of Spodoptera (based on Pogue 2002). It also does not seem to be S. excelsa Rougeot & Laporte (described from Ethiopia) which Pogue does not treat. If it is attracted to the S. frugiperda pheromones, this suggests that it is a Spodoptera species. However, it is a quite distinctive species and it does not look like a typical Spodoptera species, suggesting that it may well have been described in another genus.
You might like to consider sending specimens to the Plantwise Diagnostic and Advisory Service, where they can barcode them and work from actual specimens to try and make an identification.
https://www.plantwise.org/diagnostic-and-advisory-service/
Pogue, M. G. A world revision of the genus Spodoptera Guenée (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Mem. Am. Entomol. Soc. 43, 1–202 (2002).
Yes the specimens are from Ethiopia. I can send specimens but the current requirements for sending any plant or animal specimens to abroad have become prohibitive. I am required to send you assurance letter and the material transfer agreements for you to sign. I just learned about these regulations recently where I wanted to send suspected predatory moth specimen collected from wax scales to the US for identification. I traveled from the north to Addis only to be told that I have to process these formalities and went back home (north) disappointed.
Again, I can send them but it might need some time.
I suspected / feared that might be the situation for Ethiopia. I suggest you contact the Plantwise Diagnostic and Advisory Service anyway and see how this can be addressed.
Definitely not a FAW. Hard to tell from these pictures but these specimens also do not look like Spodoptera teferii from Ethiopia. Article Re-establishment of Spodoptera teferii Laporte in Rougeot (L...
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