Tineoidea (superfamily)

Clothes and Bag moths, and close relatives at Moruya, NSW

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Identification history

Tineoidea (superfamily)	18 Apr 2024	donhe
Tineoidea (superfamily)	17 Apr 2024	MichaelBedingfield
Scarabaeinae (subfamily)	15 Apr 2024	MichaelBedingfield
Unverified	12 Apr 2024	LisaH

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User's notes

This was an owl pellet - shards of bone, including jaw and teeth (saved), and fur. However, when I looked a bit more closely, the pellet had divided into smaller pellets, and each of these was moving. A larva was in each pellet, and as I watched, I saw larva gather more material from a nearby pellet, pulling on the fur, and fitting it into their cocoon. Weird to observe (lots of video), and I have no idea what they are. There were also many ants.

3 comments

donhe wrote:

12 Apr 2024

@LisaH : Maybe larva of a Trisyntopa or Monopis moth species ? Hope you can rear it and get an adult moth for an ID?

donhe wrote:

16 Apr 2024

I have never heard previously of scarab larvae making fibre covered cases like Tineoidae larvae do. I thought they were C grubs with fat white bodies ?

LisaH wrote:

16 Apr 2024

Unfortunately, I don’t think - (or have capacity) to collect any specimens - and I was at a loss as to what they would eat, as I wasn’t sure what they were? However, I did grab some of the pellet that didn’t have larvae, as well as all the jaw bone and teeth I could find. I’m interested to know tha dung beetles deal with owl pellets as well as dung?

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Location information

Maps Broulee Moruya Nature Observation Area
Places Moruya, NSW

Sighting information

4 - 15 Abundance
LisaH Recorded by
Collections
Insects Moths (Lepidoptera) Other moths LisaH South Coast NatureMapr

Additional information

5mm to 12mm Animal size
Alive / healthy Animal health

Species information

Tineoidea (superfamily) Scientific name
Clothes and Bag moths, and close relatives Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 570.81m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

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