Oinophila
| Oinophila | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Tineidae |
| Subfamily: | Hieroxestinae |
| Genus: | Oinophila Stephens, 1848 |
| Type species | |
| Gracillaria v-flava Haworth, 1828 | |
| Diversity | |
| At least 2 species (see text) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Oenophila Dunning & Pickard, 1859 (unjustified emendation) | |
Oinophila is a small genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the subfamily Hieroxestinae.[1]
O. v-flava, often misspelled "-flavum", is commonly known as the wine moth. Its caterpillars borrow into moist cork – such as of wine bottles stored in a damp cellar – in search of the mould which they primarily eat.[2]
Species
Oinophila is only a minor lineage in a small subfamily, but the notoriety of the well-known wine moth made it quite well known. In the past, it was thus used as a sort of "wastebin taxon" for miscellaneous Hieroxestinae. Four species remain in the genus at present, but two of these do not actually seem to belong here – they might not even be Hieroxestinae:[3]
- Oinophila argyrospora Meyrick, 1931 (provisionally placed here)
- Oinophila nesiotes Walsingham, 1908
- Oinophila v-flava (Haworth, 1828)
- Oinophila xanthorrhabda Meyrick, 1915 (provisionally placed here)
See also
- Cork moth (Nemapogon cloacella), another tineid moth occasionally feeding on cork of wine bottles.
Footnotes
References
- Bennett, Stuart M. (2003): Stored Product Insects – Oinophila v-flavum (Wine Moth) [sic]. Retrieved 2010-MAY-01.
- Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (2004): Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species – Oinophila. Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2010-MAY-01.
- Robinson, Gaden S. [2010]: Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera). Retrieved 2010-MAY-01.