Long-horned Grass Tubeworm Moth

Acrolophus mortipennella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Tineidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Long-horned Grass Tubeworm Moth
Photo: Robert Webster, CC BY-SA

The adult moth has a wingspan of about 23 to 30 millimetres.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 23 mm to 30 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Found in North America, including several U.S. states like Alabama and Texas.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 23 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Maryland.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Long-horned Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 2
Photo: Robert Webster, CC BY-SA
Long-horned Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 3
Photo: Cody Stricker, CC BY
Long-horned Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 4
Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY
Long-horned Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 5
Photo: IDClaire, CC BY

Same family (Tineidae)

Webbing Clothes MothWebbing Clothes MothTineola bisselliellaCan damage your homeCase-bearing Clothes MothCase-bearing Clothes MothTinea pellionellaCan damage your homeClemens' Grass Tubeworm MothClemens' Grass Tubeworm MothAcrolophus popeanellaEastern Grass Tubeworm MothEastern Grass Tubeworm MothAcrolophus plumifrontellaArcane Grass Tubeworm MothArcane Grass Tubeworm MothAcrolophus arcanellaDetritus MothDetritus MothOpogona omoscopa

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrolophus_mortipennella

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.