Oinophila

Oinophila
Oinophila nesiotes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Tineidae
Subfamily: Hieroxestinae
Genus:
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

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

References

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