Buffalo Carpet Beetle vs Coco yam

Anthrenus scrophulariae compared with Colocasia esculenta

Key Differences

• Buffalo Carpet Beetle is Least Concern while Coco yam is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Buffalo Carpet Beetle	Coco yam
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Coleoptera (Beetles)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Dermestidae	Noctuidae
Genus	Anthrenus	Colocasia
Species	Anthrenus scrophulariae	Colocasia esculenta

Evolutionary Relationship

Buffalo Carpet Beetle and Coco yam share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Buffalo Carpet Beetle

LC — Least Concern

Coco yam

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Buffalo Carpet Beetle	Coco yam
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Buffalo Carpet Beetle

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries) and North America (United States).

Coco yam

Habitat

Inhabits flooded grasslands and savannas within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (30 countries), Asia (6 countries), Europe (9 countries), North America (8 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (8 countries), and South America (6 countries).

Buffalo Carpet Beetle

The Buffalo Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus scrophulariae) is a species in the genus Anthrenus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Coco yam

Coco Yam (Colocasia esculenta), also widely known as Taro, is a pantropical herbaceous plant in the family Araceae, cultivated as a food crop for more than 10,000 years and considered one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants. The species grows from large starchy corms and produces broad, sagittate leaves with distinctive water-repellent surfaces—an adaptation that has earned the plant its association with the lotus effect in traditional culture. Corms, cormels, and young leaves are all edible after thorough cooking, which is essential to neutralise the calcium oxalate crystals that cause intense irritation when raw. Originating in South and Southeast Asia, Colocasia esculenta has been dispersed across tropical Africa, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, and the Americas through centuries of agricultural exchange and migration. It thrives in wet or waterlogged soils, being particularly associated with paddy cultivation, irrigation channels, and swampy ground, though drought-tolerant cultivars exist. The species is a dietary staple in Hawaii, where it is the basis of poi; in West Africa, where it is boiled or pounded; and across the Pacific Islands, where it sustains subsistence communities. Given its widespread cultivation and genetic diversity represented across thousands of landraces, IUCN has not formally evaluated its conservation status. The species is not considered at risk.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇫🇷 France 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States