Oinophila

Oinophila is a small genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the subfamily Hieroxestinae.[1]

Oinophila
Oinophila nesiotes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
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)

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

  1. Pitkin & Jenkins (2004)
  2. Bennett (2003)
  3. Robinson [2010]

References

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