Gray Buckeye (Junonia grisea) is a medium-sized butterfly, with a wingspan of 1.625 to 2.75 inches. It can be seen from March to November. In our local area, numbers are uniformly high from May through July. Host plants include snapdragon (Antirrhinum) and toadflax (Linaria) from the snapdragon family, as well as plantains (Plantago), and also ruellia from the acanthus family.
Before 2018, it was considered a sub-species of Common Buckeye. The entire population west of the Rockies was then elevated as a separate species.
The eyespots serve as a defense mechanism, fooling predators into thinking they are seeing part of a much larger creature.
It is found along the west coast from Oregon through Baja California, and also in the southwestern states.
