Favoured Footman Click to enlarge image
Lichen moth (Arctiidae: Lithosiinae) Teresa gratis, male NSW: Depot Beach, 10 miles NE of Batemans Bay 13 Dec 1969 I.F.B. Common Image: David Britton
© Australian Museum

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Termessa
    Species
    diplographa
    Subfamily
    Lithosiinae
    Family
    Arctiidae
    Super Family
    Noctuoidea
    Order
    Lepidoptera
    Class
    Insecta
    Phylum
    Arthropoda
    Kingdom
    Animalia
  • Life history mode
    terrestrial, volant

Introduction

T. diplographa is one of several similar and variable species of Termessa.

Identification

T. diplographa resembles T. gratiosa in having pale areas within the broad black fascia, but is larger that T. gratiosa, and has a darker yellow ground colour (whitish-yellow in T. gratiosa). It is also similar to T. zonophanes but does not have the black scaling near the tip of the abdomen seen in T. zonophanes.

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.

Distribution

From Toowoomba (QLD) south to Gisborne (VIC)


Seasonality

October to December

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.