The Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings, giving them the shape of a narrow winged airplane. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblage called "microlepidoptera".
Stenoptilia pterodactyla, the brown plume is a moth of the family Pterophoroidea. It is found in Europe, North America, Anatolia, Iran and China. It was first described by the Swedish taxonomist, Carl Linnaeus in 1761.
Emmelina monodactyla is a moth of the family Pterophoridae found in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
Stenoptilia zophodactylus, also known as the dowdy plume, is a species of moth of the family Pterophoridae found worldwide. It was first described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1840.
Lantanophaga pusillidactyla, the lantana plume moth, is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is native to the southern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.
Exelastis pumilio is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It has worldwide tropical distribution, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Japan, Micronesia, South Africa the Virgin Islands as well as Queensland and New Guinea.
Pterophorus albidus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is distributed in Africa, south and south-east Asia, including New Guinea and Australia, as well as Japan (Kyushu) and the Ryukyu Islands.
Nippoptilia cinctipedalis is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is found in Australia, Korea, Japan (Kyushu), China, Micronesia, the Republic of Palau and Vietnam.
Tomotilus celebratus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It has been reported from Australia, India, Japan and Indonesia (Java). Until recently the species was known as Tomotilus saitoi, but the earlier name Oxyptilus celebratus has been recognised as an earlier reference to this same species.
Lioptilodes albistriolatus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. In South America and Central America it has been recorded from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Puerto Rico. It is also present in North America, where it is known from Mexico, California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It is an introduced species in Hawaii.
Platyptilia farfarellus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. The species was described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1867. It is found from central and southern Europe to Asia Minor, Micronesia and Japan. It is also known from Africa, where it has been recorded from Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, São Tomé & Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, the Seychelles and Malawi.
Stenodacma wahlbergi is a moth of the family Pterophoridae described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1851. It is known from Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sri Lanka, India, Central, East and South Africa, St. Helena, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Rodrigues. It has recently been recorded from Vietnam. Records for Australia were based on synonymisation with Stenodacma pyrrhodes.
Hellinsia distinctus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae that is found from Europe to India, Korea, Japan, China and Russia. Within Europe, it is found from Germany and the Benelux east to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, from Italy north to Fennoscandia, and in Greece, Estonia, Latvia and northern and central Russia.
Adaina microdactyla is a moth of the family Pterophoridae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. Also known as the hemp-agrimony plume, it is found in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Exelastis montischristi is a species of moth in the genus Exelastis known from Hispaniola, Ecuador, Grenada, Jamaica, Martinique, the Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas. It has also been recorded from Tanzania.
Platyptilia molopias is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It has a very wide distribution in the Old World tropics, ranging from Africa through India and Sri Lanka, east to Indonesia. It is also found in the Philippines on Luzon, Mindoro, Negros and Mindanao.
Agdistis adactyla is a moth species in the family Pterophoridae, and the type species of genus Agdistis. It is known from most of the Palearctic realm, where it occurs from central and south-western Europe and North Africa to eastern Asia.
Stenoptilia nolckeni is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is found in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Finland and northern Russia. It has also been recorded from Korea and China.
Hellinsia inquinatus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is found in North America, including Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Maryland, Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Colorado and Arizona. It has also been recorded from Hispaniola, Mexico, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas Island.
Oxyptilini is a tribe within the subfamily Pterophorinae of the plume moths or Pterophoridae. The monophyly of this group was established in a 2011 phylogenetic study. A key to distinguish the genera within this tribe was published in 2010.
