Athetis reclusa is a moth of the family Noctuidae first described by Francis Walker in 1862. It is found from Sundaland to New Caledonia and Fiji.[1] The habitat consists of open areas from sea level up to 1,200 meters.[2]
The wingspan is about 25 mm.[3] Male with a cleft corneous ridge clothed with scales on vertex of head. Abdomen clothed with woolly pile. It is a stoutly built moth. In male, collar and abdomen black. Second joint of palpi black. Forewings with the basal area clothed with ochreous hair. Hindwings with yellowish base. Some specimens have a black speck in cell of forewing and a series of specks on the postmedial line and margin. The female is pale chestnut brownish. Forewings with very faint traces of usual markings of male. There is a prominent ochreous postmedial line slightly curved from the costa to vein 2, which is non-waved. Hindwings are much paler.[4]
The larvae feed on the leaves of Brassica species, as well as Arachis hypogaea.
. George Hampson . The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume II . Taylor and Francis . 1894 . Biodiversity Heritage Library.