Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Species Pyralis manihotalis - Hodges#5515

Representative Images

Pyralis manihotalis Small Moth - Pyralis manihotalis A type of Carpet Moth? - Pyralis manihotalis Hodges #5515 - Tropical Meal Moth - Pyralis manihotalis Kitchen Moth - Pyralis manihotalis - female Kitchen Moth - Pyralis manihotalis - female Pyralis manihotalis? - Pyralis manihotalis Moth in bathrrom - Pyralis manihotalis
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Pyralidae (Pyralid Moths)
Subfamily Pyralinae
Tribe Pyralini
Genus Pyralis
Species manihotalis (Pyralis manihotalis - Hodges#5515)

Hodges Number

5515

Other Common Names

Tropical meal moth

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Pyralis manihotalis Guenée, 1854
Phylogenetic sequence # 164200

Size

Wingspan 12-20 mm.

Range

Florida, Texas to Central America.
Asia, Australia

Remarks

A pan-tropical species, probably introduced.

Print References

Guenée, 1854. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. p. 509.
Weistein, P. & Edwards, E.D., 1994. Troglophilic moths in Australia: first record of a self-sustaining population. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 33: 371-319. (Full text PDF)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Contributed by Jeff Hollenbeck on 9 September, 2010 - 2:58pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Maury Heiman
Last updated 6 May, 2013 - 10:15am

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact