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, Kerala, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal.
Lymantria costalis Walker, 1865. Sri Lanka; “India”.
Lymantria fuliginosa Moore, 1883. W. & S. India; Sri Lanka.
Lymantria todara Moore, 1879. S. India, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Nilgiris; Sri Lanka. Sister species of L. similis.
Lymantria grandis Walker, 1855. India: S India, Maharashtra; Sri Lanka
Lymantria ampla (Walker, 1855). India: S. India, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, West Bengal; Bangladesh; Sri Lanka.
Lymantria aryama Moore, 1859. India: S. India, Sikkim, Nagaland; Nepal.
Lymantria subrosea subrosea Swinhoe, 1903. India: Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
Lymantria nussi Schintlmeister, 2004. S. India, Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
Lymantria kanara Collenette, 1951. S. India, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka.
Lymantria vinacea Moore, 1879. India: Karnataka (TL: Canara).
NW Himalaya & Nepal
Lymantria incerta Walker, 1855. India: NW India, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh.
Lymantria moesta Swinhoe, 1903. India: NW India; Nepal.
Lymantria sobrina sobrina Moore, 1879. NW India, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh; Nepal.
Lymantria maxfischeri Schintlmeister, 2004. Nepal.
Lymantria liedgensi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Uttarakhand.
Lymantria schnitzleri Schintlmeister, 2004. Nepal.
Lymantria semicincta (Walker, 1855). India: NW. Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Jharkhand, West Bengal; Nepal.
E. Himalaya
Lymantria aryama Moore, 1859. India: S. India, Sikkim, Nagaland; Nepal.
Lymantria apicebrunnea Gaede, 1932. India: Arunachal Pradesh.
Lymantria ascetria Hübner, [1819]. India: West Bengal.
Lymantria hauensteini Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Arunachal Pradesh; Myanmar.
Lymantria iris Strand, 1911, formerly ssp of obsoleta. NE India, Assam, Meghalaya.
Lymantria bivittata Moore, 1879. India: C. & E. Himalaya, NE India, West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Andamans.
Lymantria grisea grisea Moore, 1879. India: NE India, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal.
Lymantria brotea lepcha Moore, 1879. India: E. Himalaya.
Lymantria lepcha Moore, 1879 treated as a separate species on the website.
Lymantria maxfischeri Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Assam.
Lymantria minomonis Matsumura, 1933. India: Arunachal Pradesh.
Lymantria obsoleta Walker, 1855. India: NE India, Uttarakhand, North India, West Bengal (TL: Darjeeling).
Lymantria plumbalis Hampson, 1895. TL: Myanmar; India: Nagaland, Manipur.
Lymantria similis Moore, 1879. Bhutan; NE India, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland.
Lymantria subrosea singapura Schintlmeister, 2004.India: NE India.
Lymantria sublunata thomasi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Sikkim, Andamans.
Himalaya
Lymantria albolunulata Moore, 1879. India: Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam; Nepal.
Lymantria concolor concolor Walker, 1855. India: N. India, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand,Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim; Bangladesh.
Lymantria liedgensi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: N. India, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand (TL: Bhimtal).
Lymantria marginata Walker, 1855. India: Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Meghalaya, NE India; Bangladesh.
Lymantria mathura Moore, 1866. India: Himalaya, NE India.
Lymantria obfuscata Walker, 1865. India: NW India, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, West Bengal.
Lymantra serva Fabricius, 1793. Himalaya, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya; Nepal.
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
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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 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | |||||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | |||||||||||||
| Odisha | |||||||||||||
| Paschimbanga | |||||||||||||
| Pondicherry | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||
| Telangana | |||||||||||||
| Tripura | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Uttarakhand | |||||||||||||
| West Bengal | |||||||||||||
| Total | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
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 2026. Lymantria detersa Walker, 1865 – Detersa Tussock Moth. In Sondhi, S., R.P. Singh, G. Iyer, J. D'silva and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.11. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.mothsofindia.org/lymantria-detersa, accessed 2026/03/21.