Common Buckeye
(Junonia coenia)
True Brushfoots
Appearance: Above, brown with one large and one small gold-rimmed black and blue eyespot, a pale band, and two orange bars on forewing cell. Hindwing has two prominent eyespots, an orange submarginal band and tan margin broken by a dark line. Below, forewing eyespot, white bar and dorsal orange bars show through; hindwing plain mottled brown.
Wingspan: Medium; 1 5/8 to 2 3/4 inches.
Habitat: Open habitat such as fields, roadsides and other disturbed areas; plains, foothills.
Flight Times: May to October; two to three broods in the southern United States. This butterfly does not reproduce in Colorado and is unable to overwinter in any stage in northern temperate regions. However, adults often disperse into Colorado in late summer and fall.
Larval Foodplant: Plantains, snapdragons, toadflax, monkey flower and others.
Did You Know…
Buckeyes move north in spring and retreat south in the fall.
