Aglossa pinguinalis

"Large tabby" redirects here. For the other moth with this common name, see Polydesma umbricola.

Aglossa pinguinalis, the large tabby or grease moth, is a moth in the subfamily Pyralinae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.^[1][2][3] The dark-hued larvae feed on animal fats.^[4]

Aglossa pinguinalis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pyralidae
Genus:	Aglossa
Species:	A. pinguinalis
Binomial name
Aglossa pinguinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Pyralis pinguinalis Linnaeus, 1758 Tinea marmorella Geoffroy, 1785 Tinea marmoratella Villers, 1789 Crambus pinguiculatus Haworth, 1809 Crambus pinguinatus Haworth, 1809 Aglossa streatfieldii Curtis, 1833 Aglossa streatfieldii Curtis, 1833 Aglossa guicciardii Constantinio, 1922

Description

The wingspan is 27 mm (males) and 37 mm (females) (or a forewing length of 14 to 18 mm). The forewings are greyish-ochreous or brownish, densely sprinkled with dark fuscous; a blackish subbasal line; first and second lines obscurely paler, rather broad, waved, cloudily edged with dark fuscous on both sides, second curved outwards in dise; a dark fuscous discal spot. Hindwings fuscous-grey; a paler postmedian line very obscurely indicated. The larva is blackish or dark brown; head blackish: in silken galleries amongst chaff and hay refuse.^[5][6][7][8]

Distribution

Native to the Palearctic. It has been introduced in North America.^[9] It has also been introduced to New Zealand.^[10]