''Tucumania tapiacola'' is a species of

snout moth The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyralida ...

in the genus '' Tucumania''. It was described by

Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. (February 14, 1866 – January 21, 1929) was an American entomologist. Dyar's Law, a pattern of geometric progression in the growth of insect parts, is named after him. He was also noted for eccentric pursuits which includ ...

in 1925. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and has been introduced to Australia and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is 24–34 mm. The forewings are soft grey, with a slightly darker pattern of markings. The hindwings are pearly white, but dusky toward the outer margin. The length of the life cycle is irregular, but both in Argentina and in Australia there are usually two complete generations and a third partial generation annually. The larvae feed on ''

Opuntia aurantiaca ''Opuntia aurantiaca'', commonly known as tiger-pear, jointed cactus or jointed prickly-pear, is a species of cactus from South America. The species occurs naturally in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay and is considered an invasive species in Afr ...

'' and '' Opuntia discolor''.Cactus Feeding Moths
/ref> They are solitary and tunnel in the segments of their host plant, often transferring from one joint to another. The larvae are purplish or wine colored. Pupation takes place in a cocoon, spun either within the hollowed-out segments, among debris or just beneath the soil surface.

References

Moths described in 1925 Phycitini {{Phycitini-stub