Trumpet Creeper Sphinx
Paratrea plebeja (Fabricius, 1777), fam. Sphingidae, P-no. 890110
Host plants: Primarily feeds on trumpet vine (Campsis radicans). Also reported hosting on Oleaceae, Passifloraceae, and Solanaceae, although these are likely seldom used.
Date found(s): September, 2026
Location(s) found: Tyson Research Center, St. Louis County; Franklin County, MO
Notes: Trumpet creeper vines are heavily targeted by birds and predatory wasps during the day. To survive, the trumpet vine sphinx caterpillar utilizes a clever defensive routine. During daylight hours, the caterpillar shifts to the underside of the plant’s woody stems, pressing its body flat against the bark to become practically invisible. Only when darkness falls does it crawl out onto the leaves to feed safely under the cover of night. Here is another reason to get out after dark to find a greater diversity of caterpillars!
The Trumpet Creeper Sphinx comes in two primary color phases. The green phase, like the poor heavily parasitized individual pictured here (found at Tyson Research Center), and a less commonly found brown phase, pictured here and found by Eva Wiedeman in Franklin County, MO.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 