Metephestia

Metephestia is a monotypic snout moth genus described by George Hampson in 1901. Its only species, Metephestia simplicula, was described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1881.^[1] It is known from Colombia,^[1] southern Florida,^[2] Puerto Rico and the West Indies.

Metephestia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pyralidae
Subfamily:	Phycitinae
Genus:	Metephestia Hampson in Ragonot, 1901
Species:	M. simplicula
Binomial name
Metephestia simplicula (Zeller, 1881)
Synonyms
Ephestia simplicula Zeller, 1881

There are several generations per year.

The larvae feed on Indigofera species, including I. hirsuta, I. suffruticosa and I. tinctoria. Young larvae feed on unexpanded leaflets.^[3]