Tineidae

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Tineidae
Temporal range: 38–0  Ma
Nemapogon granella01.jpg
Adult European grain moth (Nemapogon granella: Nemapogoninae) from Graz, Austria
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Tineoidea
Family: Tineidae
Latreille, 1810
Type genus
Tinea
Subfamilies
and see text
Diversity [1]
About 357 genera and 2,393 species

Tineidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera described by Pierre André Latreille in 1810. Collectively, they are known as fungus moths or tineid moths. The family contains considerably more than 3,000 species in more than 300 genera. Most of the tineid moths are small or medium-sized, with wings held roofwise over the body when at rest. They are particularly common in the Palaearctic, but many occur elsewhere, and some are found very widely as introduced species.

Contents

Tineids are unusual among Lepidoptera as the larvae of only a very small number of species feed on living plants, the majority feeding on fungi, lichens, and detritus. The most familiar members of the family are the clothes moths, which have adapted to feeding on stored fabrics and led to their reputation as a household pest. The most widespread of such species are the common clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella), the case-bearing clothes moth (Tinea pellionella), and the carpet moth (Trichophaga tapetzella); the brown-dotted clothes moth (Niditinea fuscella) despite its name, preferentially feeds on feathers in bird nests.

One remarkable genus is Ceratophaga , whose members feed exclusively on pure keratin in the form of the horns and hooves of dead mammals and even the shells of dead tortoises.

Systematics

Subfamilies and notable genera

Some species also are listed; for others see genus accounts.

Meessiinae

Myrmecozelinae

Tineinae

Genera incertae sedis

These fungus moths have not been assigned to a subfamily with a reasonable amount of certainty:

Fossil record

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brachodidae</span> Family of moths

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic amber</span> Type of amber from the Baltic area

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<i>Monopis obviella</i> Species of moth

Monopis obviella is a species of tineoid moth. It belongs to the fungus moth family (Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily Tineinae. It is the type species of Blabophanes, today treated as a junior synonym of the genus Monopis. M. crocicapitella was only separated from the present species in 1859, and is still frequently confused with it even by rather recent sources.

<i>Tinea semifulvella</i> Species of moth

Tinea semifulvella is a species of tineoid moth. It belongs to the fungus moth family (Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily Tineinae. It is widespread and common in much of the western Palearctic, but seems to be absent from Portugal and the Balkans as well as the outlying islands. The nocturnal adults are on the wing around May to September, depending on the location, and are easily attracted to light sources.

<i>Tinea pellionella</i> Species of moth

Tinea pellionella, the case-bearing clothes moth, is a species of tineoid moth in the family Tineidae, the fungus moths. This species has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring nearly worldwide.

<i>Niditinea fuscella</i> Species of moth

The brown-dotted clothes moth is a species of tineoid moth. It belongs to the fungus moth family (Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily Tineinae. It is the type species of its genus Niditinea.

<i>Niditinea</i> Genus of moths

Niditinea is a genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the nominate subfamily, Tineinae.

<i>Trichophaga</i> Genus of moths

Trichophaga is a genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the moninate subfamily Tineinae.

<i>Monopis laevigella</i> Species of moth

Monopis laevigella, the skin moth, is a species of tineoid moth. It belongs to the fungus moth family (Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily Tineinae. It is the type species of the genus Monopis and its junior objective synonym Hyalospila. As with the common clothes moth, earlier authors frequently misapplied the name Tinea vestianella to the present species.

<i>Tinea trinotella</i> Species of moth

Tinea trinotella is a species of tineoid moth. It belongs to the fungus moth family (Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily Tineinae. It was once used as type species of a distinct genus Acedes, but this is synonymized today with Tinea, the type genus of Tineinae, Tineidae and the superfamily Tineoidea.

<i>Tinea</i> (moth) Genus of moths

Tinea is a genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the subfamily Tineinae. As evident by its name, it is the type genus of its subfamily and family. Established as one of the first subgroups of "Phalaena", it used to contain many species of Tineidae that are nowadays placed in other genera, as well as a few moths nowadays placed elsewhere.

<i>Monopis crocicapitella</i> Species of moth

Monopis crocicapitella, the pale-backed clothes moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae described by James Brackenridge Clemens in 1859. It has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. It was first described from the eastern United States. It is particularly destructive of fabric and clothes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micropterigidae</span> Family of primitive moths

Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of lepidoptera, and the sole superfamily in the suborder Zeugloptera. The name comes from the Greek for mikros, little and pterux, a wing. Unique among the Lepidoptera, these moths have chewing mouthparts rather than a proboscis, and are seen feeding, often in large aggregations, on the pollen of the flowers of many herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees. The fossil record of the group goes back to the middle-late Jurassic with the earliest known species being Auliepterix from the Karabastau Formation in Kazakhstan.

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Prehistoric Lepidoptera are both butterflies and moths that lived before recorded history. The fossil record for Lepidoptera is lacking in comparison to other winged species, and tending not to be as common as some other insects in the habitats that are most conducive to fossilization, such as lakes and ponds, and their juvenile stage has only the head capsule as a hard part that might be preserved. Yet there are fossils, some preserved in amber and some in very fine sediments. Leaf mines are also seen in fossil leaves, although the interpretation of them is tricky. Putative fossil stem group representatives of Amphiesmenoptera are known from the Triassic.

<i>Tinea pallescentella</i> Species of moth

Tinea pallescentella, the large pale clothes moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae. It is found in most of Europe. It is also present in western North America, where it has been recorded from California. There are also records from South America and Australia.

<i>Tinea svenssoni</i> Species of moth

Tinea svenssoni is a moth of the family Tineidae. It is found in northern Europe, Russia, as well as North America where has been recorded from Québec.

<i>Tinea columbariella</i> Species of moth

Tinea columbariella is a moth belonging to the family Tineidae. The species was first described by Wocke in 1877.

Tinea flavescentella is a species of moth belonging to the family Tineidae. It is native to Western Europe. The wingspan is 8–17 mm. Head with pale yellow hair tuts. Antennae just over half the front wing length. The forewings are greyish yellow with two or three grey-brown spots and a faint hyaline spot at the base. Hindwings grey. Certain identification requires examination of the genitalia. Flies at night in August. It is found indoors where fur and wool goods are kept.

Tinea dubiella is a species of moth belonging to the family Tineidae.

References

Further reading

Key works