They seem to be of Australian origin, where they are most diverse, but range through the Wallacea to Southeast and South Asia, and into the Pacific to the Marquesas Islands.

Others have little- or almost unmodified wings, and in some cases (e.g. Tineodes) at a casual glance look like snout moths (family Pyralidae).

[3] The relationships of this group are disputed, and they were in fact not even considered a possibly monophyletic lineage for long.

This was subsequently merged into the Tineodidae – which was originally established for the more conventional-looking false plume moths – when it became clear that the two groups are very close relatives.

This would mean that the strong similarities between e.g. Tanycnema and the basal plume moth genus Agdistopis are not a coincidence.