''Monopis laevigella'', the skin moth, 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 its

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 ...

''Tinea rusticella'') 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 the genus ''

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 ...

'' and its

junior objective 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, Linnae ...

''Hyalospila''. As with the common clothes moth (''Tineola bisselliella''), earlier authors frequently misapplied the name '' Tinea vestianella'' to the present species. It is not uncommon all across western

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

as well as in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. 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, but given that it occurs in all neighboring countries, it probably has simply been overlooked. Its absence from some

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

islands may be genuine however.

Description and ecology

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 September (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 ...

and come out at

dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enou ...

. They have dark brown forewings with a white fringe and the translucent center spot characteristic for the genus ''

'', but lack the white markings adjacent to it found in many congeners. The hindwings are lighter brown-grey; 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 reddish-ochre hair. Two

generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

s per year may occur as far north as southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Otherwise, 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 are found in the colder months only. They generally feed on animal

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 dried-out animal carcasses, in the

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...

bird nest A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian bl ...

s and on

owl pellet A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant ma ...

s. They have also been found to eat

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...

s, rags and rotted

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

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 (

s and others) of the skin moth are: * ''Blabophanes semispilotella'' Strand, 1900 * ''Monopis rusticella'' (Hübner, 1796) * ''Monopis saturella'' (Haworth, 1828) * ''Recurvaria rustica'' Haworth, 1828 (unjustified

emendation An emendation is an alteration to a term, for a specific technical reason: * Emendation (textual), altering a word to make sense, e.g. when incomplete or assumed to have been copied incorrectly * Emendation (zoology), altering the spelling of the ...

) * ''Tinea laevigella'' Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 * ''Tinea rusticella'' Hübner, 1796 * ''Tinea saturella'' Haworth, 1828 * '' Tinea vestianella'' (''sensu auct., non'' Linnaeus, 1758: preoccupied) ''Blabophanes semispilotella'' has been believed to refer to the same animal as '' M. weaverella'', but the latter seems to be a distinct species, while the former is not even a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''M. laevigella'' but merely a chance

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

.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>

Footnotes

References

* (2008): Australian Faunal Directory &ndash
''Monopis''
Version of 2008-OCT-09. Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. * (2009)
''Monopis laevigella''
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 &ndash
''Monopis laevigella''
Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. * (2004)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
&ndash
''Monopis''
Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2010-MAY-09. *

br>Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera)
&ndash
''Monopis laevigella''
Retrieved 2010-MAY-09.

External links

Lepiforum de

Images
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3088705 Tineinae Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of Iceland