This species was first described by Oswald Bertram Lower in 1900 using three specimens collected at Parkside, South Australia in June.

[2][8] The term “Armyworm” is used because of their habit to spread out in a line across a lawn or pasture, and slowly “marching” forward, meanwhile consuming the foliage they encounter.

Head, palpi, thorax, legs and abdomen ochreous-fuscous, face with two narrow interrupted fuscous bars, thorax with two transverse anterior bands, anterior one very tine, posterior very broad, coxae densely hairy, posterior pair mixed with fuscous.

Forewings elongate, moderately dilated, costa nearly straight, hindmargin gently rounded; ochreous, strongly infuscated throughout with fine fuscous and dark fuscous lines, becoming edged by an equal width of groundcolour on hind-marginal area, which gives the appearance of alternating ochreous and fuscous lines; lower edge of cell becoming very strongly infuscated, sometimes more or less continued as a thick streak to apex; a fine whitish-ochreous spot at end of cell; an outwardly curved row of fine black dots from 5⁄6 of costa to inner margin before anal angle : cilia ochreous-fuscous, with a hindmarginal row of black intervenal spots, more pronounced on underside.

[9] The larvae feed on agricultural plants, such as Saccharum officinarum and Poaceae species and are thus considered a pest.