Aglossa pinguinalis, the large tabby or grease moth, is a moth in the subfamily Pyralinae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The dark-hued larvae feed on animal fats.
Description The wingspan is 27 mm (males) and 37 mm (females) (or a forewing length of 14 to 18 mm). The forewings are greyish-ochreous or brownish, densely sprinkled with dark fuscous; a blackish subbasal line; first and second lines obscurely paler, rather broad, waved, cloudily edged with dark fuscous on both sides, second curved outwards in dise; a dark fuscous discal spot. Hindwings fuscous-grey; a paler postmedian line very obscurely indicated. The larva is blackish or dark brown; head blackish: in silken galleries amongst chaff and hay refuse.Meyrick, E., 1895 A Handbook of British Lepidoptera MacMillan, London pdf Keys and descriptionlepiforum.de includes imagesParsons, M. Clancey, C. 2023 A Guide to the Pyralid and Crambid Moths of Britain and Ireland Atropos Publishing Goater, B., Dyke . G. and Tweedie, R. 1986 British Pyralid Moths: A Guide to Their Identification Brill.
Distribution
Native to the Palearctic. it has been introduced in North America. It has also been introduced to New Zealand.
References