Meal Moth vs Common Buckeye

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Meal Moth Common Buckeye
Scientific Name Pyralis farinalis Junonia coenia
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Pyralidae Nymphalidae
Size 10-14 mm body; 18-30 mm wingspan 42-55 mm wingspan
Habitat Indoors Beaches & Coastal
Diet Seed Feeders Predators
Regions Worldwide North America, Central America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Meal Moth

A distinctive moth with olive and reddish-brown banded wings that infests stored grain and flour. Larvae live in silken tubes within infested food products.

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Did You Know?

Its larval silk tubes can form dense mats in stored grain, binding the product into solid masses.

Common Buckeye

Brown butterfly with prominent eyespots on all four wings. Eyespots deter predators by mimicking the eyes of larger animals.

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Did You Know?

Their large eyespots have been shown to startle birds into abandoning attacks.