Oinophila

Oinophila is a small genus of the fungus moth family, Tineidae. Therein, it belongs to the subfamily Hieroxestinae.[1]

Oinophila
Oinophila nesiotes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Tineidae
Subfamily:	Hieroxestinae
Genus:	Oinophila Stephens, 1848
Type species
Gracillaria v-flava Haworth, 1828
Diversity
At least 2 species (see text)
Synonyms
Oenophila Dunning & Pickard, 1859 (unjustified emendation)

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

• Bennett, Stuart M. (2003): Stored Product Insects – Oinophila v-flavum (Wine Moth) [sic]. Retrieved 2010-MAY-01.
• Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (2004): Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species – Oinophila. Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2010-MAY-01.
• Robinson, Gaden S. [2010]: Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera). Retrieved 2010-MAY-01.