Tiki hut litter moth

Simplicia cornicalis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Erebidae

Can damage your home. The larvae can damage roofs made of dried palm leaves.

Adults have a wingspan of about 20 to 38 mm and a body that is ochre-brown in colour.

How to recognize it

The forewings show a curved, scalloped post-medial line. The hindwings are darkly suffused but lack the grey shading seen in similar species.

The wingspan ranges from 20 mm to 38 mm.

It occurs in south-eastern Asia and the Pacific region. It has become established in southern Florida and Louisiana as an introduced species.

Larvae feed on dead leaves.

Unlike some related moths, its hindwings lack the typical grey coloration, helping to tell it apart.

Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, New Jersey.

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

Source: GBIF

Status: introduced in North America; introduced in United States. Source: iNaturalist

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Source: GBIF

What damage can the larvae cause to my home?

The larvae may damage roofs that are made from dried palm leaves.

How can I tell this moth apart from similar species?

Its hindwings are darkly suffused but do not have the grey color that other species show.

Where is this moth originally from?

It is native to south-eastern Asia and many Pacific islands, including places like Thailand, Fiji, and parts of Australia.

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

Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.