Hofmannophila pseudospretella (Stainton, 1849)

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 33

Hofmannophila pseudospretella (Stainton, 1849)

COMMON NAME (S): Brown House Moth or Large Common Tubic moth. SYNONYM(S): Gelechia improbella Walker, 1869a ; Litoides punctipinguinella Bruand, 1856 .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada (British Columbia), Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,

Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden,

Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, USA (California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada), Zambia.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: ‘Lusaka’, in Lusaka Province. LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): A stored products pest as larva. Probably originally native to Asia, the synanthropic Brown House Moth has been introduced to other regions by human activity and is found almost worldwide today. Caterpillars feed on cereals (including maize, oatmeal, pearl barley and rice) and other seeds, potatoes, furs and dog biscuits.

SOURCES: Zambia Plant Pests and Disease Act 2017.