''Monopis obviella'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of tineoid moth. It belongs to the

fungus moth Tineidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera described by Pierre André Latreille in 1810. Collectively, they are known as fungus moths or tineid moths. The family contains considerably more than 3,000 species in more than 300 genera. ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(Tineidae), and therein to the nominate subfamily

Tineinae The Tineinae are a subfamily of moths of the family Tineidae. Genera * ''Acridotarsa'' * '' Anomalotinea'' * '' Asymphyla'' * '' Ceratobia'' * ''Ceratophaga'' * '' Ceratuncus'' * ''Crypsithyris'' * '' Crypsithyrodes'' * '' Eccritothrix'' * '' E ...

. It is (under the invalid name ''Tinea ferruginella'') the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of ''Blabophanes'', today treated as a junior synonym of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Monopis ''Monopis'' is a genus of the fungus moth family (biology), family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the nominate subfamily, Tineinae. A typical feature of these moths is a semi-transparent pale spot near the middle of the forewings. There usua ...

''. '' M. crocicapitella'' was only separated from the present species in 1859, and is still frequently confused with it even by rather recent sources.

Ecology and description

It is not uncommon all across western

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

; while it has not been recorded in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

yet, given that it occurs in all neighboring countries it probably has simply been overlooked. But it is apparently still a rather Continental species, as it seems absent from major Mediterranean islands and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and on

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

occurs mainly in the south, towards the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. But confusion with ''M. crocicapitella'' makes the exact range of these moths still quite little known. The adults of this small

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

have a wingspan of 13–20 mm. On the wing around May to October (depending on the location), they are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

but may fly around in daytime or be attracted to light occasionally. They have blackish forewings with a thick creamy-white trailing edge, some sprinkles of the same color along the leading edge, and the translucent center spot characteristic for the genus ''

''. The hindwings are a lighter greyish brown with minute black speckles; they are surrounded by a long-haired fringe, as usual for fungus moths and relatives. The body is dark brown, and the head bears a tuft of creamy-brown hair. In most of its range, two generations per year seem to occur. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e eat

detritus In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commun ...

. They have been recorded from

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators h ...

pellets,

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

shavings,

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

(particularly if left outside to decay) and rotting wood.

Synonyms

Invalid

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

s (

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s and others) of ''M. obviella'' are:Grabe (1942), Robinson

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

/ref> * ''Blabophanes ferruginella'' (Hübner,

813 Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 22 – Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars, led by Krum, ruler (''khan'') of the Bulgarian Empire, defeat Emperor Michael I near Edirne (modern Turkey). The Byzantine army (26,000 men) is d ...

(''non'' Thunberg, 1788:

preoccupied The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...

) * ''Monopis ferruginella'' (Hübner,

(''non'' Thunberg, 1788: preoccupied) * '' Tinea ferruginella'' Hübner,

(''non'' Thunberg, 1788: preoccupied) * ''Tinea obviella'' Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 * ''Tinea splendella'' Hübner 1813 * ''Tinea ustella'' Haworth, 1828

Footnotes

References

* (2008): Australian Faunal Directory �
''Monopis''
Version of 2008-OCT-09. Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. * (2009)
''Monopis obviella''
Version 2.1, 2009-DEC-22. Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. * (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars" ''Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins'' 27: 105-109

n German N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

br>PDF fulltext
*

UKMoths �
''Monopis obviella''
Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. * (2004)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
�
''Blabophanes''
Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. *

br>Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera)
�
''Monopis obviella''
Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. * (2003): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms �

Version of 2003-DEC-28. Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. *PETERSEN, G., 1957: Die Genitalien der paläarktischen Tineiden (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). ''Beiträge zur Entomologie'' 7 (1/2): 55-176.

External links

UKmoths

Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q148564 Tineinae Moths of Europe Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller