Tinea columbariella is a moth belonging to the family Tineidae. The species was first described by Wocke in 1877.[1]

Tinea columbariella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Tineidae
Genus: Tinea
Species:
T. columbariella
Binomial name
Tinea columbariella
Wocke, 1877

It has a cosmopolitan distribution.[2]

Description edit

Wingspan 9-15 mm. Head with rust brown hair. Antennae just over half the front wing length. The forewings dark grey-brown with a black spot on the disc and a basal hyaline spot. Hindwings light grey. Difficult to distinguish from Tinea pellionella, Tinea dubiella and Tinea svenssoni but the genitalia are diagnostic.

Biology edit

Flies at night (and comes to light) from June to August. Found indoors in lofts, barns, stables and the like. The case-bearing larva is whitish with a dark head and feeds on nesting material or feathers in birds nests.

References edit

  1. ^ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Tinea columbariella​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Tinea columbariella Wocke, 1877". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  • Gaedike,R. 2019 Tineidae II : Myrmecozelinae, Perissomasticinae, Tineinae, Hieroxestinae, Teichobiinae and Stathmopolitinae Microlepidoptera of Europe, vol. 9. Leiden : Brill, [2019]
  • Petersen, G., 1957: Die Genitalien der paläarktischen Tineiden (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). Beiträge zur Entomologie 7 (1/2): 55–176.

External links edit