Keratophagous
Guides
Tinea occidentella
Western Clothes Moth
Tinea occidentella is a keratophagous moth species in the family Tineidae, native to coastal California and northern Baja California. Despite its common name "western clothes moth," it does not feed on clothing but instead consumes keratin from mammalian carnivore scat and bird of prey pellets. The species is tightly restricted to fog-influenced coastal environments where high humidity allows larvae to obtain water from atmospheric moisture absorbed by their fur and feather diet.