Skin Moth

Hi all, I was dissecting Barn Owl Pellets a year ago for a friend who was doing a study on Barn Owls from 6 different locations, she asked me if I would undertake the job of dissecting them, so, I'm sitting in my shed teasing one apart when I found a grub/larva, 13mm long, creamy white with a brown head, which had an inverted V on it's frons, I also found a pupa still wriggling if touched in a case similar to caddis fly but glued together with the fur/hair from the pellet, I found more after that and thought maybe I could rear one in a container with pellets in to find out what it was, I did this and from the pupa came this moth, it took me several days trolling through books and on line till I found it, The Skin Moth Monopsis laevigella UK Moths No227  I love a challenge.
    Duncan

Skin moth larva showing inverted V on head by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr

Skin moth pupa by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr

Skin moth pupa by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr

Skin Moth 3 Monopis laevigella by Duncan Mclean, on Flickr