CreatureData

African armyworm

Spodoptera exempta (Walker, 1856)

Status not recordedbutterflies and moths

The African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) is a species in the family Noctuidae, order Lepidoptera.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the African armyworm

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the African armyworm live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the African armyworm as introduced in 1 country.

  1. Mayotte

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the African armyworm endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the African armyworm classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderLepidoptera
  5. familyNoctuidae
  6. genusSpodoptera
  7. SpeciesSpodoptera exempta (Walker, 1856)

Synonyms Agrotis exempta, Prodenia bipars, Prodenia ingloria, Spodoptera bipars, Spodoptera ingloria

Other names and names in other languages (4)
  • African armyworm mothEnglish
  • Nutgrass armywormEnglish
  • KommandowurmGerman
  • アフリカシロナヨトウJapanese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the African armyworm

Other species in the same genus Spodoptera.

Tomato moth

Spodoptera littoralis

NoctuidaeNo free photo yet

Fireworm

Spodoptera eridania

NoctuidaeNo free photo yet

CompareAfrican armyworm vs Beet armywormAfrican armyworm vs Fall armywormAfrican armyworm vs Tomato mothAfrican armyworm vs Asian cotton leafworm

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the African armyworm an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the African armyworm as introduced in 1 country: Mayotte, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the African armyworm?

The African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta) belongs to the family Noctuidae in the order Lepidoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-armyworm

MLA

“African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-armyworm.

BibTeX
@misc{african_armyworm_2026,
  title = {African armyworm (Spodoptera exempta)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-armyworm},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}