University of FloridaSolutions for Your Life

Download PDF
Publication #EENY 426

 

Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia Hübner (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)1

Jaret C. Daniels2

Introduction

Named for its conspicuous target-shaped eyespots, the common buckeye, Hübner, is one of the most distinctive and readily identifiable North American butterflies. It inhabits a wide variety of open, sunny landscapes including old fields, roadsides, utility corridors, gardens, parks, yards, fallow agricultural land, scrubs, pine savannas, and weedlots.

Distribution

The common buckeye is a resident across the southern United States and much of Mexico. In Florida, it can be found in all 67 counties. The butterfly regularly expands its range northward each year to temporarily colonize much of the U.S., occasionally reaching southern Canada. Starting in late summer and continuing through fall, huge numbers of adults migrate southward into peninsular Florida, where the adults overwinter.

Description

Adult: The common buckeye is a medium-sized butterfly with several large, conspicuous round eyespots. Adults have a wingspan range of 45 to 70 mm. Females are generally larger than males and have more rounded forewings. The upper surface of the forewing has a broad white postmedian band that touches and often encircles a single large eyespot. The forewing cell has two prominent orange bars. The upper surface of the hindwing has two large eyespots and a broad orange submarginal band. The undersides of the hindwings are seasonally variable. Individuals produced in the wet season (summer) have tan to brown ventral hindwings with more noticeable pattern elements. Individuals produced in the dry season (winter) are a rich reddish-brown.

Figure 1. 

Adult common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner


Credit: Jaret C. Daniels, University of Florida
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 2. 

Eggs of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner, on American bluehearts, Buchnera americana L. (Orobanchaceae).


Credit:

Jerry Butler,University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Larva: The mature larva is black with numerous blue-black branched spines.

Figure 3. 

Mature larvae of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner, on false foxglove, Agalinissp. (Orobanchaceae).


Credit:

Jaret C. Daniels, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Pupa: The pupa is mottled brown and cream.

Life Cycle

The common buckeye produces multiple generations each year. Adults may be found in all months of the year throughout much of Florida. Adults have a quick, erratic flight low to the ground and are quite wary of close approach. Both sexes (particularly males) perch on low vegetation or bare earth. Females lay the small green eggs singly on leaves of the host plant.

Hosts

The larvae utilize a variety of herbaceous plants including:

  • American bluehearts, L. (Orobanchaceae)

  • false foxglove, spp. (Orobanchaceae)

  • plantain, spp. (Plantaginaceae)

  • toadflax, spp. (Veronicaceae)

  • turkey tangle fogfruit, L. (Verbenaceae)

  • twinflower, spp. (Acanthaceae)

  • yaupon blacksenna, (J.F. Gmel.) S.F. Blake (Orobanchaceae)

Figure 4. 

American bluehearts, Buchnera americana L. (Orobanchaceae), a larval host of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner.


Credit:

Donald Hall, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 5. 

Common plantain, Plantago major L. (Plantaginaceae), a non-native, larval host of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner.


Credit:

Donald Hall, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 6. 

Narrowleaf plantain, Plantago lanceolata L. (Plantaginaceae), a non-native, larval host of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner.


Credit:

Donald Hall, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 7. 

Canada toadflax, Linaria canadensis (L.) Chaz. (Plantaginaceae), a larval host of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner.


Credit:

Donald Hall, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 8. 

Turkey tangle fogfruit, Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene (Verbenaceae), a larval host of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner.


Credit:

Donald Hall, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Figure 9. 

Yaupon blacksenna, Seymeria cassioides (J.F. Gmel.) S.F. Blake (Orobanchaceae), a larval host of the common buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia Hübner.


Credit:

Donald Hall, University of Florida


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Selected References

  • Cech R, Tudor G. Butterflies of the East Coast: An Observer's Guide. 2005. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 345 pp.

  • Daniels JC. Butterflies of Florida Field Guide. 2003. Adventure Publications, Cambridge, MN. 250 pp.

  • Daniels JC. 2000. Butterflies 1: Butterflies of the Southeast. UF/IFAS. Card Set. SP273.

  • Kimball CP. 1965. The Lepidoptera of Florida; an annotated checklist. Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas Vol. 1. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry. 363 pp.

  • Minno MC, Butler JF, Hall DW. 2005. Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plants. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. 341 pp.

  • Minno MC, Emmel TC. 1993. Butterflies of the Florida Keys. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville. 168 pp.

  • Opler P, Krizek G. 1984. Butterflies East of the Great Plains: An Illustrated Natural History. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 322 pp.

Footnotes

1.

This document is EENY-426, one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: February 2009; revised September 2011. This document is also available on Featured Creatures website at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Additional information on these organisms, including many color photographs, is available at the Entomology and Nematology Department website at http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/.

2.

Jaret C. Daniels, assistant professor, Entomology and Nematology Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.