The Plebeian Sphinx Moth (Paratrea plebeja) is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Sphingidae

Sphingidae

Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...

 family and only member of the Paratrea genus. It is found in the eastern part of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 up to the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

. It is also present in Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 and eastern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

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

Phlox

Phlox is a genus of 67 species of perennial and annual plants found mostly in North America in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open woodland and prairie. Some flower in spring, others in summer and autumn....

, Petunia

Petunia

Petunia is a widely cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, closely related with tobacco, cape gooseberries, tomatoes, deadly nightshades, potatoes and chili peppers; in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower derived its name from French, which took the word petun, meaning...

, Mirabilis

Mirabilis (plant)

Mirabilis is a genus of plants in the family Nyctaginaceae known as the four o'clocks. The best known species may be Mirabilis jalapa, the plant most commonly called four o'clock....

, Lonicera, Hymenocallis caroliniana

Hymenocallis caroliniana

Hymenocallis caroliniana is a species of Hymenocallis. It has the common name Carolina Spiderlily.-Distribution:Hymenocallis caroliniana can be found in the following U.S. states.* Alabama* Arkansas* Georgia* Illinois* Indiana* Kentucky...

and Verbena

Verbena

Verbena , verbenas or vervains, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 250 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the New World from Canada south to southern Chile, but some are also native in the Old...

.

The larvae feed on Campsis radicans, Tecoma stans

Tecoma stans

Tecoma stans is a species of flowering perennial shrub in the trumpet vine family, Bignoniaceae, that is native to the Americas. Common names include Yellow Trumpetbush, Yellow Bells , Yellow Elder, Ginger-thomas, and Esperanza...

and introduced Tecomaria capensis.

External links

• Plebeian Sphinx Moths of North America Guide