Lithosia quadra
species of insect
Lithosia quadra, the four-spotted footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in southern and central Europe then east across the Palearctic to the Amur River and Japan. It is also found in the south of Great Britain and Scandinavia.
The wingspan is 35–55 mm. The males are smaller than the females. There is strong sexual dimorphism in the imago, the males have gray wings with a yellow wing joint and a blue-black stripe at the front of the outer rim of the forewing. The females have yellow wings with two blue-black dots. It is the biggest species of the subfamily Lithosiinae.
Technical description and variation
The male is much smaller than the female brown grey with a leaden gloss, thorax and base of wings golden yellow, costa metallic blue green at the base. The female yellow, the forewing with a black-blue spot behind the centre of the costa and above the inner margin.
“Lithosia quadra” enters the record as species of insect. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lithosia, quadra and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Lithosia quadra” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lithosia, quadra and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q217779. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lithosia quadra”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lithosia quadra primary sources, Lithosia quadra archive and Lithosia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lithosia quadra”?
- Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lithosia quadra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.