Coffee-Loving Pyrausta Moth

This red and gold crambid moth has some individual variation to its gold-stripes-on-red pattern, but I find most of them look a lot like a smiling jack-o-lantern!

You can probably guess by the common name, coffee-loving pyrausta moth, what the larvae of this moth enjoy eating most — wild coffee, Psychotria nervosa.

Pyrausta tyralis lives in the southeastern United States, and in the southern US west to Arizona. It has a neat little yellow green caterpillar with black spots.

These two shots are of two individuals, and were taken almost two months apart!

This is a third individual, in case that’s not obvious. Love these happy little pumpkin face moths!

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