Tineidae

This article is about the family of tineid moths. For common clothes moth, see Tineola bisselliella.
Tineidae
Adult European grain moth (Nemapogon granella: Nemapogoninae) from Graz (Austria)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Suborder: Glossata
Infraorder: Heteroneura
Division: Ditrysia
Superfamily: Tineoidea
Family: Tineidae
Latreille, 1810
Type genus
Tinea
Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies

Dryadaulinae
Erechthiinae
Euplocaminae
Hapsiferinae
Harmacloninae
Hieroxestinae
Meessiinae
Myrmecozelinae
Nemapogoninae
Perissomasticinae
Scardiinae
Setomorphinae
Siloscinae
Stathmopolitinae
Teichobiinae
Tineinae
and see text

Diversity[1]
About 357 genera and 2,393 species

Tineidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera. 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.

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. 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

Nemapogoninae

Perissomasticinae

Scardiinae

Setomorphinae

Siloscinae

  • Autochthonus
  • Organodesma
  • Silosca

Stathmopolitinae

Teichobiinae

  • Dinochora
  • Ectropoceros
  • Psychoides

Tineinae

Genera incertae sedis

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

Fossil record

References

Further reading

Key works
Wikispecies has information related to: Tineidae
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tineidae.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.