''Dryadaula terpsichorella'', the dancing moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae. It is native to south-eastern Polynesia, Samoa and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, but has also been recorded from Hawaii and more recently from Florida and California. The common name is derived from the characteristic dancelike gyrations it goes through when it alights. It was first described by

August Busck Augustus Busck (February 18, 1870 – March 7, 1944) was a Danish-American entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology. He is best known for his work with microlepidoptera, of which he described over ...

in 1910. Larvae have been found among dead leaves and on other parts of banana, '' Costus spicatus'', ferns, ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

'', pineapple, sugarcane and other plants.

External links

* Dryadaulinae Moths described in 1910 Moths of New Zealand {{Tineidae-stub