Brown Rat vs Meal Moth

Rattus norvegicus compared with Pyralis farinalis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Rat	Meal Moth
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Rodentia (Rodents)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Muridae (Mice & Rats)	Pyralidae
Genus	Rattus	Pyralis
Species	Rattus norvegicus	Pyralis farinalis

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown Rat and Meal Moth share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Meal Moth

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Rat	Meal Moth
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Rat

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 10 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (11 countries), Asia (15 countries), Europe (41 countries), North America (16 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (10 countries), and South America (10 countries).

Meal Moth

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles, South Africa), Asia (Japan, Taiwan), Europe (10 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Brown Rat

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 16 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇦 Canada 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇯🇵 Japan 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇨 Seychelles 🇿🇦 South Africa 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States