Taxonomic Information
Lymantria Hübner, [1819] species known from the Indian subcontinent based on Schintlmeister, 2004 and Pogue, 2007
South and West India and Sri Lanka.
Lymantria detersa Walker, 1865. India:S. & W. India.
Lymantria costalis Walker, 1865. Sri Lanka; “India”.
Lymantria fuliginosa Moore, 1883. W. & S. India; Sri Lanka.
Lymantria todara Moore, 1879. S. India; Sri Lanka. Sister species of L. similis.
Lymantria grandis Walker, 1855. India: S India; Sri Lanka
Lymantria ampla (Walker, 1855). India: S. India; Bangladesh; Sri Lanka.
Lymantria aryama Moore, 1859. India: S. India; Nepal.
Lymantria subrosea subrosea Swinhoe, 1903. India: Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
Lymantria nussi Schintlmeister, 2004. S. India.
Lymantria kanara Collenette, 1951. S. India.
NW Himalaya & Nepal
Lymantria incerta Walker, 1855. NW India.
Lymantria obfuscata Walker, 1865. NW India.
Lymantria moesta Swinhoe, 1903 NW India; Nepal.
Lymantra serva Fabricius, 1793. NW. India; Nepal.
Lymantria sobrina sobrina Moore, 1879. NW India.
Lymantria maxfischeri Schintlmeister, 2004. Nepal.
Lymantria liedgensi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Uttarakhand.
Lymantria schnitzleri Schintlmeister, 2004. Nepal.
Lymantria semicincta (Walker, 1855). India: NW. Himalaya.
E. Himalaya
Lymantria obsoleta obsoleta Walker, 1855. NE India.
Lymantria plumbalis Hampson, 1895. TL: Myanmar; India: Nagaland.
Lymantria similis Moore, 1879. Bhutan; NE India.
Lymantria bivittata bivittata Moore, 1879. India: C. & E. Himalaya, NE India, Andamans.
Lymantria brotea lepcha Moore, 1879. India: E. Himalaya.
Lymantria lepcha Moore, 1879 treated as a separate species on the website.
Lymantria iris Strand, 1911, formerly ssp of obsoleta. NE India (Meghalaya)
Lymantria grisea grisea Moore, 1879. India: NE India.
Lymantria subrosea singapura Schintlmeister, 2004.India: NE India.
Himalaya
Lymantria marginata Walker, 1855. India: Himalaya, NE India; Bangladesh.
Lymantria concolor concolor Walker, 1855. India: N. India; Bangladesh.
Lymantria mathura Moore, 1866. India: Himalaya, NE India.
Lymantria albolunulata Moore, 1879. India: Himalaya.
Andamans only
Lymantria grigorievi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria brotea rudloffi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria swetlanae Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria siniaevi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria sublunata thomasi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Sikkim, Andamans.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
Lymantria detersa - Detersa Tussock Moth
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| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | |||||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Assam | |||||||||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | |||||||||||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | |||||||||||||
| Goa | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Gujarat | |||||||||||||
| Haryana | |||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | |||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Kerala | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Maharashtra | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | |||||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | |||||||||||||
| Odisha | |||||||||||||
| Paschimbanga | |||||||||||||
| Pondicherry | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||
| Tripura | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Uttarakhand | |||||||||||||
| West Bengal | |||||||||||||
| Total | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Lymantria detersa Walker, 1865 – Detersa Tussock Moth: Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae) (Robinson et al. 2010).
- OD: Lymantria detersa Walker, 1865. List Spec. Lepid. Insects Colln Br. Mus. 32: 365; TL: Mauritius [error] at http://archive.org/stream/listofspecimenso3132brit#page/365/mode/1up [accessed 09 November 2017]
- Schintlmeister, A. 2004. The Taxonomy of the genus Lymantria HÜBNER, [1819] (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). Quadrifina Band 7, Pp. 1-248. Fig 59-61. Pg. 26.
- Pogue, M. G. & P. W. Schaefer. 2007. A review of selected species of Lymantria HÜBNER [1819] (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Lymantriinae)- Pg 65, pl 3- fig 1 (Male).
Notes: Lymantria detersa is very similar to L. obfuscata and is distinguishable by lacking the fuscous discal spot and the absence of the fuscous marginal fascia on the hindwings. The female of detersa is wingless. Lymantria detersa is also similar to L. incerta which has a chequered fringe on all the wings. Both incerta and obfuscata occur in N. India (Schintlmeister 2004).
Page citation
Anonymous 2025. Lymantria detersa Walker, 1865 – Detersa Tussock Moth. In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.9. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://mothsofindia.org/lymantria-detersa, accessed 2025/04/23.