Paratrea plebeja
| Paratrea plebeja | ||||||||||||
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Paratrea plebeja |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Paratrea | ||||||||||||
| Grote , 1903 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Paratrea plebeja | ||||||||||||
| ( Fabricius , 1777) |
Paratrea plebeja is the only butterfly species of the genus Paratrea from the family of hawkmoths (Sphingidae). The species is believed to be closely related to the genus Manduca .
features
Characteristics of the moth
The moths have a fore wing length of 31 to 35 millimeters. The forewings are patterned gray and white and have a series of black lines that run from the wing tip over the medial region to the edge of the inner wing edge. The animals have a small, white, round discal spot. The hind wings are gray-brown with the exception of a cream-colored area around the disc cell. The pattern of the moths is not variable.
Characteristics of the caterpillars
The caterpillars are very conspicuously colored in the last stage. On the side of the body they have seven broad stripes that are white at the bottom and turn a strong yellow color towards the back of the following segment. The ventral side of the caterpillars is pale green, the back lime green. In addition, the animals are provided with isolated, fine secondary bristles. Below the spiracles are whitish, above yellow. The rather smooth anal horn is blue and slightly curved backwards.
Characteristics of the dolls
The pupae are walnut brown, but the wing sheaths and the back are slightly darker than the abdomen. Their surface is slightly rough. The rather long proboscis is exposed, but is close to the body. The short kremaster is triangular and ends in a sharp point.
Occurrence
The species is distributed in the nearctic and occurs from the eastern United States to the edge of the Great Plains . There you can still find them in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas. A find from Briscoe County ( Texas ) is also documented. The species can be found quite commonly in the southeastern United States, in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and along the Atlantic coast. The northernmost record of the species from the United States comes from Cape Cod , and further west from Lucas County (Ohio) , Cass County (Michigan) and Hardin County (Iowa) . The only find in Canada comes from southern Ontario . It is unclear, however, whether these northern records only document wanderers or permanent populations .
The species is a species from the eastern North American mixed forests .
Way of life
The adults can be observed visiting the flowers at dusk. They have been found in common soapwort ( Saponaria officinalis ), flame flowers ( Phlox ), petunias ( Petunia ), miracle flowers ( Mirabilis ), honeysuckles ( Lonicera ), Hymenocallis caroliniana and verbenas ( Verbena ).
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly in the north in at least two generations from May to August. In the south they also fly in two generations from late April to June and from August to October. In Florida even from April to November and in Louisiana from March to September, each in several generations.
Food plants of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on the American climbing trumpet ( Campsis radicans ), yellow trumpet flower ( Tecoma stans ), all trumpet tree plants (Bignoniaceae), and the introduced Tecomaria capensis . It is unclear whether the caterpillars also feed on common lilac ( Syringa vulgaris ) and passion flowers ( Passiflora ), as indicated by Hodges (1971).
development
The females lay their eggs individually on the undersides of the food plants. The pupation takes place in a shallow chamber in the ground.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0 -9796633-0-7 .
literature
- James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada , The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .