Arcane Grass Tubeworm Moth

Acrolophus arcanella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Tineidae

Also called: Grass Tubeworm Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Arcane Grass Tubeworm Moth
Photo: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren, CC BY

The adult’s wings stretch to about 2.5 cm across. It lives in the eastern part of North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The wingspan measures roughly 25 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It is found in eastern North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 39 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Alabama, Pennsylvania.

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

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Arcane Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 3
Photo: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren, CC BY
Arcane Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 4
Photo: Will Kuhn, CC BY
Arcane Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 5
Photo: Jacob Weston, CC BY
Arcane Grass Tubeworm Moth photo 6
Photo: Teá Montagna, 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 plumifrontellaDetritus MothDetritus MothOpogona omoscopaTexas Grass Tubeworm MothTexas Grass Tubeworm MothAcrolophus texanella

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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.