Termessa nivosa

Termessa nivosa (Walker, 1865)
Snowy Footman
(originally known as : Lerna nivosa)
LITHOSIINI, ARCTIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Termessa nivosa
(Drawing by E. Anderson, ca. 1900, Archives of Museum Victoria, Moths of Victoria: Part 2)

This Caterpillar normally lives under loose bark on Gum trees, feeding on lichens, algae and moss.

(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria)

The adult moth is white, with a coloured edging along the costa and margin of each forewing. This edging is black except at the wingtips where it is orange. There are also two black spots on the costa of each forewing, and one on the margin of each hindwing. The moth has a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The species is found in:

southern Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Terrotry,

Victoria,

South Australia.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 31.1, p. 436.

Peter Hendry,
Images of Arctiidae moths in the subfamily Lithosiinae,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 55 (December 2009), p. 31,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

Peter Hendry,
The Australian Arctiid Moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae) with emphasis on Creatonotos Gangis,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 65 (June 2012), pp. 12-13,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 2,
Tiger Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 22-23.

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 33, Supplement 3 (1865), pp. 805-806.

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(updated 29 June 2010, 10 December 2019)