Aphomia zelleri is a species of snout moths

Pyralidae

The Pyralidae or snout moths are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many classifications, the grass moths are included in the Pyralidae as a subfamily, making the combined group one of the largest families in the Lepidoptera...

 in the genus Aphomia

Aphomia

Aphomia is a genus of small moths belonging to the family Pyralidae. Some breed in the nests of Anthophila , where their caterpillars are parasitic feeders of wax, honey and pollen.-Selected species:...

. It was described by Joannis in 1932, and is known from Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

 and most of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 19-27 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August.

The larvae feed on Brachythecium albicans and Ammophila

Ammophila

Ammophila is the Latin name of two genera:* Ammophila , a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae* Ammophila , a genus of insects in the family Sphecidae-External links:*...

species. They live in a vertical silken tube extending about 100 mm into the sand. The species overwinters in the larval stage. Pupation takes place in the silken tube, just below the surface.