Speckled Footman Termessa catocalina (Walker, 1865)
Lichen Moth
Dark individuals of Termessa shepherdi
Click to enlarge image
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Termessa
- Species
- catocalina
- Subfamily
- Lithosiinae
- Family
- Arctiidae
- Super Family
- Noctuoidea
- Order
- Lepidoptera
- Class
- Insecta
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Kingdom
- Animalia
-
- Life history mode
- terrestrial, volant
Introduction
Termessa catocalina flies in the Sydney region in spring
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.
Habitat
Sandstone habitats
Distribution
coastal NSW, eastern Victoria (Noorinbee, Croajingalong NP) (P. Marriott)
Seasonality
September to December
Feeding and diet
Larvae probably feed on lichen
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.
