Speckled Footman Termessa catocalina (Walker, 1865)

ANIMAL SPECIES:Speckled Footman Termessa catocalina (Walker, 1865)

Termessa catocalina flies in the Sydney region in spring

Alternative Name/s

Lichen Moth

Identification

T. catocalina has the darkest forewings of any of the Termessa species. Some individuals will have enlarged pale grey markings on the tip and mid-region of the forewing.

DISCLAIMER: The identifications presented on these pages should be taken as indicative only. As with many groups of Australian insects there has been no formal revision of the Lithosiinae in recent years, and there are many undescribed species present in collections. Many species are superficially similar, and require a specialist to separate them.

Similar Species

Dark individuals of Termessa shepherdi

Distribution

coastal NSW, eastern Victoria (Noorinbee, Croajingalong NP) (P. Marriott)

Distribution by collection data

Biomaps map of Termessa catocalina specimens from the Australian Museum database

What does this mean?

Habitat

Sandstone habitats

Behaviour and adaptations

Seasonality

September to December

Feeding and Diet

Larvae probably feed on lichen

Life history modes

terrestrial, volant

What does this mean?

Classification

Species:: catocalina
Genus:: Termessa
Subfamily:: Lithosiinae
Family:: Arctiidae
Superfamily:: Noctuoidea
Order:: Lepidoptera
Class:: Insecta
Phylum:: Arthropoda
Kingdom:: Animalia

What does this mean?

The majority of images of Lithosiinae presented on these pages were taken from specimens housed in the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) (CSIRO, Canberra). I would like to thank the staff and researchers at ANIC for their generous assistance in providing me access to this collection, and I acknowledge the depth of effort and the investment of staff time that has gone into building and curating this splendid resource. In particular, I would like to thank Ted Edwards and Marianne Horak for their assistance.

Dr Dave Britton , Collection Manager, Entomology
Last Updated: 2 October 2009

Share: