National Moth Week: Coffee-Loving Pyrausta (Pyrausta tyralis)
Coffee-Loving Pyrausta moth ( Pyrausta tyralis ) © Laura Bennett-Kimble Gardeners seeking Florida native plants often gravitate to the glossy-leafed, shade-tolerant wild coffee ( Psychotria nervosa ) shrub, which also happens to be the favorite larval host plant for today’s moth, the Coffee-Loving Pyrausta. This is a very small, subtly colorful moth with a wingspan of around .75 inches, and its nectar sources are fairly wide-ranging, from species of Bidens to Coreopsis and beyond. But when it comes to where it prefers to lay its eggs, Psychotria nervosa is where it’s at. The plant is only found in the Florida peninsula and isn’t suitable for the chillier winters of the Panhandle. However, according to BugGuide , the moth’s habitat ranges from Florida to Arizona and as far north as Illinois and New York. This means that the moth is using other larval host plants, too. Keep in mind, you’ll want to leave the wild coffee for the Coffee-Loving Pyrausta moths and fr...