Bogong moths was first described by French lepidopterist Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1832, who described the moth as Noctua infusa from a type specimen from Australia. He described the moth as having blackish-brown hind wings. However, in 1903 British entomologist George Hampson classified a specimen with white hind wings under this name, alongside another specimen of Agrotis spina with blackish-brown hind wings. Australian amateur entomologist Alfred Jefferis Turner identified A. spina as a synonym of A. infusa in 1920. I. F. B. Common, an Australian entomologist, found specimens with both hind wing colours in 1954. Specimens with the white hind wings were only found during specific months in mercury vapour light traps near Canberra, and he attributed the white hind wing specimens to a seasonal form.
