page_title: Spodoptera litura
section_title: Egg
hierarchical_section_title: Spodoptera litura / Life cycle / Egg
caption_attribution_description: Spodoptera litura, emerging larvae - Spodoptera litura damage to Colocasia esculenta (taro), Munaweni Village, Naitasiri, Fiji Islands. 7th Sept 2005.
context_page_description: Spodoptera litura, otherwise known as the tobacco cutworm or cotton leafworm, is a nocturnal moth in the family Noctuidae. S. litura is a serious polyphagous pest in Asia, Oceania, and the Indian subcontinent that was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. Its common names reference two of the most frequent host plants of the moth. In total, 87 species of host plants that are infested by S. litura are of economic importance. The species parasitize the plants through the larvae vigorous eating patterns, oftentimes leaving the leaves completely destroyed. The moth's effects are quite disastrous, destroying economically important agricultural crops and decreasing yield in some plants completely. Their potential impact on the many different cultivated crops, and subsequently the local agricultural economy, has led to serious efforts to control the pests.
  S. litura is often confused with its close relative, Spodoptera littoralis. These two species are hard to discriminate between because the larvae and adult forms are identical. Inspecting the genitalia is the most certain way to tell the two species apart.
context_section_description: Eggs are spherical and slightly flattened. Each individual egg is around 0.6 mm in diameter with an orange-brown or pink color. These eggs are laid on the surface of leaves in big batches, with each cluster usually containing several hundred eggs. Females have a typical fecundity of 2000 to 2600 eggs. However, experiments have shown that high temperatures and low humidity are inversely related to fecundity. When laid, the egg batches are covered with hair scales provided by the female, which gives off a golden brown color. Egg masses are 4–7 mm in total diameter, and eggs will hatch 2–3 days after being laid.
caption: Emerging Spodoptera litura larvae
exif: {}