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Mysterious Sphinx from North Carolina is Virginia Creeper Sphinx

Posted by July 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 am

Categories

Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths

a picture for you
Bugman,
this is an unidentified sphinx that I suspect is in the genus Eumorpha but doesn’t match the plates in Covell. I photographed it around June 25 at my porch located at 3500 feet elevation in the blue ridge mountains of nw North Carolina. Any help with id would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
J. M. Lynch

hi J.M.,
Your mysterious Sphinx most closely resembles the Achemon Sphinx, Eumorpha achemon, that ranges in North Carolina, but the markings don’t look correct. The camera angle of your photo is not ideal for exact identification as there is some perspective distortion that could be confusing both of us. We will be copying a true Sphingidae expert, Bill Oehlke, to see if he can provide a conclusive identification for both you and our site. If this is a new species in North Carolina, Bill will be most excited to include it in his comprehensive species distribution statistics. We eagerly await Bill Oehlke’s response.

Identification
Hi Daniel, The mysterious NC sphinx is Darapsa myron. Are you posting these images somewhere that I can visit them? I already have check lists for all of the states and provinces. Now I am trying to get to the county level. The data really is of no use to me unless I can ascertain the county.
Bill Oehlke

Related Posts

  1. Virginia Creeper Sphinx (July 24, 2009)
  2. Virginia Creeper Sphinx (July 23, 2005)
  3. Virginia Creeper Sphinx (August 10, 2006)
  4. Virginia Creeper Sphinx (June 29, 2009)
  5. Two Sphinx Moths: Virginia Creeper Sphinx and Rustic Sphinx (August 13, 2009)

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