Rank Family | Division Ditrysia Scientific name Oecophoridae | |
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Lower classifications White‑shouldered house mo, Agonopterix, Depressaria, Borkhausenia, Stathmopoda | ||
Oecophoridae (concealer moths) is a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. The phylogeny and systematics of gelechoid moths are still not fully resolved, and the circumscription of the Oecophoridae is strongly affected by this.
Contents
Taxonomy and systematics
In the past, the family was circumscribed more widely and included the following subfamilies:
Some treatments include only the Oecophorinae and Stathmopodinae here, placing the others elsewhere in the Gelechoidea (typically in the Elachistidae, but occasionally as independent families). But this approach might make Elachistidae highly paraphyletic. Other authors go as far as to expand the Oecophoridae beyond the delimitation used here, including also such groups as the Ethmiidae and Xyloryctidae. The latter may indeed be part of a monophyletic Oecophoridae, but more research is required; the Ethmiidae on the other hand are more likely a distinct family. The mysterious genus Aeolanthes is also sometimes included in the Oecophoridae (as a monotypic subfamily Aeolanthinae), but its actual relationships are quite obscure.
Some additional genera are also treated as Oecophoridae incertae sedis in recent studies:
Relationship with humans
Many concealer moths feed on dead plant material and play a useful part in nutrient recycling. On the other hand, the family includes the white-shouldered house moth (Endrosis sarcitrella), a widely distributed species whose caterpillars infest stored grain, and the brown house moth (Hofmannophila pseudospretella), which feeds on textiles and carpets as well as stored foodstuffs. Other pest species include the black-headed caterpillar (the larva of Opisina arenosella) on coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) in India, and Peleopoda arcanella on Elaeis oleifera oil palms in Central America.
Concealer moths have also been put to useful service. Agonopterix ulicetella, a native of Europe, has been introduced to New Zealand and Hawaii in an attempt to control the European gorse (Ulex europaeus), and the defoliating hemlock moth (Agonopterix alstroemeriana) has been used against Conium maculatum poison hemlock in the United States.