Snowy Footman Termessa nivosa (Walker, 1865)
Lichen moth
T. orthocrossa
Click to enlarge image
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Termessa
- Species
- nivosa
- Subfamily
- Lithosiinae
- Family
- Arctiidae
- Super Family
- Noctuoidea
- Order
- Lepidoptera
- Class
- Insecta
-
- Life history mode
- terrestrial, volant
Introduction
T. nivosa is one of the most common Termessa species in southeastern mainland Australia
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.
Habitat
Forested regions along the Dividing Range, including wet forests
Distribution
From Victoria north to the Allyn River in NSW
Seasonality
October 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.
