Painted meal moth

It is not known precisely where this moth originated, but it seems to have been the general region of Southeast Asia. Presumably, the painted meal moth natively ranged from southern India and Sri Lanka northeastwards to Japan and southeastwards at least to Sumatra, Java and at least parts of Borneo; perhaps its natural range extended as far as the Philippines in the east, and to New Guinea or even Fiji in the southeast. But the latter population, widely isolated as it seems, may just as well be a colonial era introduction, as may be the case for the records from Australia (beyond Wallacea, as seen from its core range) and northwest British India (beyond the Himalayas). In Polynesia P. pictalis was recorded beyond Fiji from Kiribati and from Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands, presumably fairly recent introductions. In Africa it appears to be absent from the east, but has been found in Belgian Congo and West Africa, as well as in South Africa. Finally there are of course the records from England and other European localities; in brief, outside its contiguous range the moth mainly occurs along the historical East Indiaman trade route. However, this moth tends to occur ephemerally outside its presumed core region; in temperate and even in subtropical Europe for example the species does not seem to have established a self-sustaining population and may in fact for all practical purposes be considered absent.

Birds, bats, rodents, spiders, mantises

Some painted meal moth can navigate using the Earth's magnetic field, showcasing a fascinating internal compass seldom acknowledged.