Orange-headed monopis

Monopis spilotella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Tineidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Orange-headed monopis
Photo: Jason Grant, CC BY

The orange-headed monopis is a small moth with a wingspan of about 10 to 19 mm. It belongs to the Tineidae family. Adults fly from May through September and the species occurs across Scandinavia, the Baltic region, Ukraine, Russia and also in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Its wingspan ranges from 10 to 19 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adults are on the wing from May to September.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes Scandinavia, Denmark, the Baltic region, Ukraine, Russia and North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 16 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Washington, Montana, Illinois, Oregon.

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

Source: GBIF

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

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Orange-headed monopis photo 2
Photo: Jason Grant, CC BY
Orange-headed monopis photo 3
Photo: Jason Grant, CC BY
Orange-headed monopis photo 4
Photo: Jason Grant, CC BY
Orange-headed monopis photo 5
Photo: CatherineK, CC BY-SA

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 plumifrontellaHousehold CasebearerHousehold CasebearerPhereoeca uterellaCan damage your homeArcane Grass Tubeworm MothArcane Grass Tubeworm MothAcrolophus arcanella

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

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.