Cleopatra Butterfly vs Rice Water Weevil

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Cleopatra Butterfly Rice Water Weevil
Scientific Name Gonepteryx cleopatra Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus
Order Lepidoptera Coleoptera
Family Pieridae Curculionidae
Size Wingspan 50-70mm 2.5-3.5 mm
Habitat Heathland Wetlands
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Europe, Africa South Asia (India, Sri Lanka; invasive pest spreading across Asian rice-growing regions)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Cleopatra Butterfly

A large butterfly with deep orange forewings in males and pale greenish wings in females. Common in Mediterranean areas.

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Did You Know?

Males have the deepest orange coloring of any European pierid butterfly, contrasting with their lemon-yellow undersides.

Rice Water Weevil

A small, grey-brown weevil that feeds on rice roots as a larva and on rice leaves as an adult. Adults create distinctive narrow feeding scars along the surface of rice leaves parallel to the leaf veins.

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Did You Know?

Larvae feed underwater on rice roots, surviving by obtaining oxygen from the rice plant's aerenchyma tissue through specialized spiracles.