Monopis crocicapitella

Monopis crocicapitella, the pale-backed clothes moth, or the bird-nest moth, is a moth of the family Tineidae described by James Brackenridge Clemens in 1859.^[1] It has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. It was first described from the eastern United States.

Monopis crocicapitella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Tineidae
Genus:	Monopis
Species:	M. crocicapitella
Binomial name
Monopis crocicapitella (Clemens, 1859)
Synonyms
Tinea crocicapitella Clemens, 1859 Tinea amandatella Walker, 1863 Monopis cecconii Turati, 1919 Monopis dobrogica Georgesco, 1964 Blabophanes heringi Richardson, 1893 Tinea hyalinella Staudinger, 1870 Blabophanes lombardica Hering, 1889 Amydria prometopias Gyen, 1913 Blabophanes ptilophaga Enderlein, 1909

The wingspan is 10–16 mm.^[2]

In western Europe, adults are on wing from June to October.^[3]

This species can easily be mistaken for Monopis obviella due to almost indistinguishable markings.^{[3] [4]}

The capability of this species to infest human dwellings is unknown.^[5] Larvae of this species were found to not survive at 51% relative humidity, thriving at 93% relative humidity.^[6]

Male genitalia of Monopis crocicapitella. See the image description for characters separating M. crocicapitella from Monopis obviella.