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Paratrea plebeja

Plebeian sphinx
Paratrea plebeja sjh.JPG
Paratrea plebeja, adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Tribe: Sphingini
Genus: Paratrea
Grote, 1903
Species: P. plebeja
Binomial name
Paratrea plebeja
(Fabricius, 1777)
Synonyms
  • Atreides Holland, 1903 (Genus)
  • Atreus Grote, 1886 (Genus)
  • Sphinx plebeja Fabricius, 1777 (Species)

Paratrea plebeja (plebeian sphinx moth) is a moth of the family Sphingidae and only member of the Paratrea genus. It is found in the eastern part of the United States up to the Great Plains. It is also present in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas.

The length of the forewing is 31–35 mm. In the north, adults are on wing in two generations with adults on wing from May to August. In the south, there are at least two generations with adults on wing from the end of April to June and from August to October, but from April to November in Florida and from March to September in Louisiana. Adults feed on the nectar of Saponaria officinalis, Phlox, Petunia, Mirabilis, Lonicera, Hymenocallis caroliniana and Verbena.

The larvae feed on Campsis radicans, Tecoma stans and introduced Tecomaria capensis.



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