Peacock Butterfly on Match Safe and dead Western Poplar Sphinx

danielj

August 19th, 2007 at 12:00 am

Categories

Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths

some images and questions
When I tried to send this through your site it continually rejected me….wrong password or something. Odd, since i had never registered. So I am trying to go around the system (if it is a system!) I have a moth and a spider. I also have two moths/butterflies in enamel on match safes (small antique boxes which were used in days past to hold and strike friction matches…I collect, photograph and write on this subject). I would be happy to get some info on these. Are they real species or fantasies i wonder. The real moth looks like some sort of sphinx based on what I have learned from your site. It has a very blunt head with a wingspread of about 4 inches. The antennae are turned down under. He was nearly dead when I found him (Albuquerque, NM) on my stoop. The pink secondary wings are unusual to me but perhaps not to you. The spider is under my eave and quite large and spins a beautiful web. I also have black widows in my grape vines where they seem to thrive and leave only the legs of their mates post- coitus I suspect. The only object to proper scale is the blue butterfly match safe If you do not answer directly, where would I find your response on the site?
Karl.

peacock safe poplar sphinx Peacock Butterfly on Match Safe and dead Western Poplar Sphinx

Hi Karl,
The only way to submit content to our site at the moment is by email. We answer what we have time to answer. The image with the butterfly match safe and moth is an easy identification. The butterfly depicted on the safe is a Peacock Butterfly, Inachis io, a European species that has been introduced to the new world as well. It is a very accurate likeness. The moth is a Western Poplar Sphinx, Pachysphinx occidentalis. Your spider is an Orb Weaver and the blue butterfly on the other match safe is a moth, but we are unsure of the species.