Southern Red Rim

Biblis hyperia · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sesiidae

Also called: Red Rim, Crimson-banded Black

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Southern Red Rim
Photo: João Vitor Oliveira de Souza, CC BY

Adults have a velvety-black forewing and a gray hindwing marked with a pinkish-red band. They are seen flying from March through November in subtropical forests. The caterpillars feed on the plant Tragia volubilis, and the genus is currently monotypic though another undescribed species may exist.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Adults show a velvety-black forewing and a gray hindwing with a pinkish-red band.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They live in subtropical forest environments.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

The immature larvae feed on Tragia volubilis.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

The larvae develop while feeding on Tragia volubilis.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adults are active from March to November.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Colorado.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Southern Red Rim photo 2
Photo: Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández, CC BY
Southern Red Rim photo 3
Photo: Avery Fae, CC BY
Southern Red Rim photo 4
Photo: desertnaturalist, CC BY
Southern Red Rim photo 5
Photo: Clara Matos, CC BY

Same family (Sesiidae)

Purplish CopperPurplish CopperLycaena helloidesSquash Vine BorerSquash Vine BorerEichlinia cucurbitaeDamages trees, gardens or cropsBronze CopperBronze CopperLycaena hyllusMaple Callus Borer MothMaple Callus Borer MothSynanthedon acerniDamages trees, gardens or cropsPeachtree Borer MothPeachtree Borer MothSynanthedon exitiosaDamages trees, gardens or cropsBog CopperBog CopperLycaena epixanthe

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblis_hyperia

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.