Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFNoctuidae Members: Spragueia Members: 115 NC Records

Spragueia leo (Guenée, 1852) - Common Spragueia

Spragueia leoSpragueia leoSpragueia leoSpragueia leo
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Noctuoidea		 Family:
Noctuidae		Subfamily:
Acontiinae		Tribe:
Acontiini		P3 Number:
931387		 MONA Number:
9127.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Spragueia leoAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New%20Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Wagner et al. (2011) list fields, waste lots, roadsides, and other open habitats as used by this species. However, almost all of our records come from lake, pond, and stream shorelines or from along the edges of marshes, swamps, pocosins and other wetlands. While ragweeds -- particularly Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) -- occur in wet, open areas, other host plants may be important in explaining the strong association with shorelines and wetland edges.
Larval Host Plants: Wagner et al. (2011) report finding large numbers of larvae on Annual Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), with other records coming from bindweed (Convolvulus). The habitats used by this species in North Carolina, however, suggest that other hosts, particularly shoreline herbaceous species, may also be important. In North Carolina, our only feeding record (Tracy Feldman, BugGuide) is for Annual Ragweed. As of 2025, all of the larvae shown on BugGuide are feeding on ragweed, primarily Annual Ragweed. - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Shoreline Forblands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 SNR [S4S5]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Spragueia leo - Common Spragueia

 55 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.
Spragueia leoRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-07-04
Wilson Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2025-07-04
Wilson Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2025-07-03
Wake Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: John Petranka on 2024-09-23
Orange Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-08-04
Mitchell Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-23
Yancey Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Mark Basinger on 2024-06-23
Yancey Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Travis McLain on 2023-08-09
Anson Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Chuck Smith on 2023-08-04
Davidson Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Andrew W. Jones on 2023-08-01
Polk Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Andrew W. Jones on 2023-08-01
Polk Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Andrew W. Jones on 2023-08-01
Polk Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: David George, Stephen Dunn, Jeff Niznik, Rich Teper, Becky Watkins on 2023-07-30
Swain Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Stephen Dunn on 2023-05-31
Orange Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jim Petranka, Becky Elkin, Steve Hall, and Bo Sullivan. on 2022-09-26
Moore Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jim Petranka, Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan on 2022-08-28
Moore Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-08-21
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2022-08-18
Chatham Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jim Petranka on 2022-07-21
Madison Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson on 2022-06-21
Caswell Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: David George, L. M. Carlson on 2022-06-20
Caswell Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2022-05-29
Chatham Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Stephen Dunn on 2021-08-03
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Stephen Dunn on 2021-07-22
Orange Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Mark Shields on 2021-07-04
Onslow Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Dean Furbish on 2021-06-27
Wake Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Erich Hofmann on 2021-05-30
Craven Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Erich Hofmann on 2021-05-30
Craven Co.
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Spragueia leoRecorded by: Stephen Hall on 2020-09-01
Orange Co.
Comment: 		Spragueia leoRecorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-08-18
Madison Co.
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