Phaseolus (bean, wild bean) is a genus in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mexico. At least four of the species have been domesticated since pre-Columbian times for their beans. Most prominent among these is the common bean, P. vulgaris, which today is cultivated worldwide in tropical, semitropical, and temperate climates. Phaseolus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including common swift, garden dart, ghost moth Hypercompe albicornis, H. icasia and the nutmeg.