Thallarcha epiostola Turner, 1926
Gowned Footman
 LITHOSIINI,   ARCTIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Thallarcha epiostola
(Photo: courtesy of Ken Harris, Morwell National Park, Victoria)

The adult moths of this species have white forewings with a complex pattern of dark brown markings. The hindwings are also white with just a few dark markings.

Thallarcha epiostola
female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 2)

The species has been found in :

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria, and
  • Tasmania.

    This appears to be a rare species. The set specimen in the top photo was taken in Victoria in 1907. No other sightings of the species were made in Victoria until Ken found and photographed the specimen in the lower picture in 2013, after a gap of 106 years.

    Further reading :

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 2,
    Tiger Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 24-25.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    New and Little known Tasmanian Lepidoptera,
    courtesy of the
    Library Open Repository, University of Tasmania Library,
    Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,
    1925, p. 109.

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    (written 31 May 2013, updated 31 October 2023)