| Four-spotted Footman (Lithosia quadra (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Lithosia quadra (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Four-spotted Footman French name: Lithosie quadrille Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Heterocera Family: Erebidae Subfamily: Arctiinae Wingspan: 35 to 43 mm for males; 35 to 62 mm for females. Biotope: Woodlands, woodland edges. Geographic area: Europe, Asia Minor, Asia east to Japan. Flight time: July to October. Number of generations : 1 Caterpillar: Blackish grey, whitish on the upper side with longitudinal grey lines and orange red warts bearing very long and thin black hairs. These caterpillars are urticant and can pullulate some years. Host plant: Lichens, including Xanthoria parietina, growing on the bark of deciduous or coniferous trees. |
The Four-spotted Footman shows an important sexual dimorphism. Females have pale lemon yellow fore wings with, on each fore wing, two large black spots in the median area, one almost touching the costal edge and the second one, sometimes a little smaller, at a short distance of the inner edge. You can only see 3 spots at rest because the wings are held one partially over the other. There are variants without any black spot, with only one black spot or with both spots merging into a cross stripe. The hind wings are pale yellow and a little darker close to the costal edge. Males have fore wings without spots. The base of the fore wings is orange yellow with a dark area close to the costal edge. The median area is pale beige grey and then the fore wings becomes darker, pale brown grey, over the marginal part. The abdomen is yellow, the legs are black. The Four-spotted Footman over winters as a caterpillar at an intermediate development stage. |
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You can easily recognize the Four-spotted Footman's caterpillar. I have observed this one close to a woodland edge but among high grasses. |
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Other view of the same caterpillar. |
André Bon March 2018