Moths of North Carolina
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Spragueia Members:
113 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 leo
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
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]
Occurrence Viability Ranks:
Species Probability of Extirpation:
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

52 photos are available. Only the most recent 30 are shown.

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