False plume moths | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Infraorder: | Heteroneura |
Clade: | Eulepidoptera |
Clade: | Ditrysia |
Clade: | Apoditrysia |
Superfamily: | Alucitoidea |
Family: | Tineodidae Meyrick, 1885 |
Diversity | |
12 genera, about 20 species | |
Synonyms | |
Oxychirotidae Meyrick, 1885 |
The Tineodidae or false plume moths[1] are a family of moths with in some cases unusually modified wings: Like in some related moths, the wings of several Tineodidae are decomposed into several rigid spines. This is a small family, with about a global total of 20 species described to date; some undescribed species are known or suspected to exist however. They seem to be of Australian origin, where they are most diverse, but range through the Wallacea to Southeast and South Asia, and into the Pacific to the Marquesas Islands.[2]