Niditinea cf. striolella

• Subfamily: Tineinae
• Wingspan: 10-14 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Aug
• Spread: Uncommon
• Host plants: Dry animal remains

Information

The Niditinea striolella is a moth of the Tineidae family with a wingspan of 10-14 mm, was described by Matsumura in 1931 is also syn. Tinea piercella - Bentinck 1935 ..
In Europe it has a patchy diffusion and is absent from Spain, Ireland, Isalnda, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine from Lithuania.
Its range includes the temperate palearic ecozone up to Japan.
In Italy it is absent from the islands. *

The front wings of the Niditinea striolella of light ocher color, shiny strongly sprinkled with dark gray or black scales. Often but not always they form a blot approximately circular in the median area. **
The hind wings have a silky gray color, with dark shades near the edge, and are strongly fringed.
Abdomen and thorax are yellowish ocher, the head has the characteristic , typical of the family. **

Predominantly nocturnal moth, it is visible in the period from June to August. A sure determination of the species occurs only with the dissection of the genitals.

The larvae are whitish in color with a dark brown head, and feed on residues of animal origin, hey live inside silk tubes and have been observed inside bird's nests, in particular in nests / holes made in tree trunks (such as spikes). ***


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** HANTSMOTHS - The Moths of Hampshire and Isle of Wight - https://www.hantsmoths.org.uk/