Animal Species:Snowy Footman Termessa nivosa (Walker, 1865)
T. nivosa is one of the most common Termessa species in southeastern mainland Australia
Lithosiinae Termessa nivosa
David Britton
© David Britton
Alternative Name/s
Lichen moth
Identification
The only Termessa species which is predominantly white. There is very little variation between individual moths throughout the range of this species.
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
T. orthocrossa
Distribution
From Victoria north to the Allyn River in NSW
Distribution by collection data
Biomaps map of Termessa nivosa specimens from the Australian Museum database
Habitat
Forested regions along the Dividing Range, including wet forests
Seasonality
October to December
Feeding and Diet
Larvae probably feed on lichen
Life history modes
terrestrial, volant
Classification
- Species:
- nivosa
- Genus:
- Termessa
- Subfamily:
- Lithosiinae
- Family:
- Arctiidae
- Superfamily:
- Noctuoidea
- Order:
- Lepidoptera
- Class:
- Insecta
Further Reading
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:
