Species Details

ABH: 62.072

BF: 1417

Family: Pyralidae

Subfamily: Pyralinae

Taxon: Pyralis farinalis

Authority: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Vernacular: Meal Moth

Account: Common in farm buildings, barns, warehouses and granaries, also sometimes in houses, across much of Britain, occasionally recorded in the wider countryside. Distributed widely and evenly over Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, with no particular pattern. Wingspan 22-30 mm. Nocturnal, but often easy to find on walls during the day. Main confusion species are P. lienigialis, which is much darker and lacks contrastingly pale median area, and Painted Meal Moth P. pictalis, which has straighter fasciae on forewing. Larva feeds on dried goods, cereals, grain and dry vegetable matter.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 22 — 30 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 23 May (2010) — 13 Oct (2018)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant:

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Common

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 1 — Relatively easily identified 👌

Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/pyralis-farinalis/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 107

Individuals: 12

Earliest Year: 1986

Latest Year: 2025

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