Dry rot species of fungi cause brown rot decay, preferentially removing cellulose and hemicellulose from the timber leaving a brittle matrix of modified lignin. The term "dry rot" is somewhat misleading, as both species of fungi "Serpula lacrymans" and "Meruliporia incrassata" require an elevated moisture content to initiate an attack on timber (28–30%). Once established, the fungi can remain active in timber with a moisture content of more than 20%. At relative humidities below 86 percent, growth of "Serpula lacrymans" is inhibited, but it can stay dormant at relative humidities down to 76 percent. These relative humidities correspond to equilibrium moisture contents
Nemapogon granella are uniformly greyish-brown and surrounded by a fringe of long hairs. On the head, the adults have a tuft of yellowish-white hairs. The caterpillar larvae eat rotting wood in the wild, though they prefer bracket fungi, usually Polyporales. Their mainstay food included Polyporaceae such as sulphur polypore ("Laetiporus sulphureus"), dryad's saddle ("Polyporus squamosus") or turkey tail ("Trametes versicolor"), as well as Fomitopsidaceae, e.g. birch polypore ("Piptoporus betulinus"). But they have also been found on "Serpula lacrymans" of the quite unrelated Boletales. Larvae in association with humans will feed on a variety of dry organic material, such as dried fruit (e.g.bilberries,