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Big Moth with red dot.
Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 3:23 PM
I’m going to guess it was about three inches long. It was about eight at night when I heard some fluttering, which, by the way, was really loud. At first, I thought it was a big bee. After awhile of it being a Kamikaze, smacking itself in the window, it just kind of sat still, tired or giving up. And I moved into bombard it with pictures.
Rachel
San Jose, California

White Lined Sphinx

Hi Rachel,
Your moth is a somewhat battered While Lined Sphinx, Hyles lineata. The red dot on the thorax has been caused by the scales wearing off the body, revealing the hard chitinous exoskeleton beneath. The White Lined Sphinx seems to be experiencing quite a population explosion this year, with numerous individuals being reported. We received one letter from the La Jolla, CA area reporting hundreds of White Lined Sphinx flying at dusk.

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