Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 9, 2026

Aglossa

Aglossa is a genus of small moths belonging to the family Pyralidae. It was described by Pierre André Latreille in 1796. They are found mainly in western Eurasia, though some species have been introduced elsewhere.

Last revised
Jul 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
375 w
Citations
4
Source
Aglossa
Adult grease moth (A. pinguinalis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pyralidae
Tribe: Pyralini
Genus: Aglossa
Latreille, 1796
Species

Numerous, see text

Synonyms1
  • Agriope Ragonot, 1894
  • Euclita Hübner, [1825]
  • Crocalia Ragonot, 1892
  • Oryctocera Ragonot, 1891

Aglossa is a genus of small moths belonging to the family Pyralidae. It was described by Pierre André Latreille in 1796. They are found mainly in western Eurasia, though some species have been introduced elsewhere.1

This genus is remarkable for the caterpillars, which in some species are able to feed on a wide range of materials that are not usually eaten by Lepidoptera larvae, such as dead insects, manure and straw. The caterpillars of other Aglossa (e.g. A. signicostalis) are myrmecophilous.2

Adults of the grease moth (A. cuprina) sometimes eat fats such as suet.

Species

Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. See references in Savela (2009)
  2. Grabe (1942)
  3. Kemal, Muhabbet; Kızıldağ, Sibel; Koçak, Ahmet Ömer (2020). "On the genus Aglossa of Turkey with description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Pyraloidea)". Miscellaneous Papers. 207. Ankara: 1–7.
References

References

  • Media related to Aglossa at Wikimedia Commons
  • Grabe, Albert (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen ["Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars"]. Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins 27: 105-109 [in German]. PDF fulltext
  • Savela, Markku. "Aglossa Latreille, 1796". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved September 20, 2017.