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Moth at the beach
October 30, 2009
Saw this moth at a rental house while at the beach. It hung out a few days so we decided to snap a picture
The Fairchild’s
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Tersa Sphinx
Dear Fairchilds,
This is a Tersa Sphinx. We just posted a few photos of its caterpillar, so it is nice to have the adult moth images as well.
Green moth found in Japan
October 13, 2009
Hello!
My friend took a photo of this lovely moth in Tokyo, mid-October, near her apartment. I’ve been trying to find out exactly what it is, and I think it may be a Cephonodes species, but I’m unsure exactly what. If you could help give an exact ID that would be wonderful 
choco
Tokyo, Japan
Cephonodes hyles
Hi choco,
Your photo is tiny and lacking in resolution, but we agree that this is a Cephonodes species, probably Cephonodes hylas. We found a photo quickly by doing a web search of Sphingidae Japan, and then double checked on the Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic website. That site states: “When the moth first emerges, which it usually does in the early morning, the hyaline portion of the wings is covered densely with greyish scales. These come off in a little cloud when the wings are rapidly vibrated before the first flight (Bell & Scott, 1937)” and we believe these scales are present in your specimen, indicating that it has newly metamorphosed and has not yet flown. Diurnal Sphinghids are often called Hummingbird Moths in North America since they are frequently mistaken for hummingbirds, and we are taking creative license with that common name in our posting title.
moth
October 7, 2009
please can you tell me what this moth is that we came across whilst we were on holiday in the southwest of france in september 2009? are they poisones and should i have handled it
pauline
south west france
Death's Head Hawkmoth
Hi pauline,
Congratulations on your sighting of a Death’s Head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, the moth that was featured in the book and movie Silence of the Lambs. It is found in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Though we have received several images of caterpillars in the past, we believe this is the first image we have received of an adult moth or imago. Wikipedia has an extensive page on this fascinating species. It is not poisonous.
Comment
The Caterpillar of this species [which I believe has a wide geographic range] is consumed. In Papua New Guinea.
Dave Gracer
Moth?
September 24, 2009
This”moth” was labeled a stowaway. I’m uncertain if it came from the Denver Airport/airplane and stayed on my luggage till we got to Tulsa, Oklahoma or if it just greeted us in Tulsa when we were waiting for our ride. I was standing outside the Tulsa airport on August 2nd about midnight and looked down to see this LARGE moth looking thing (It was about the size of my iphone). He really liked my bag – Not wanting to touch its wings, I had a little trouble getting it off! I found a stick and kind of forced it to walk aboard and then I put him in a safe place. Can you tell me what kind it is?
Katie ~ Photographer
Probably Tulsa, Oklahoma
Pandora Sphinx
Hi Katie,
Bill Oehlke’s awesome website does not report the Pandora Sphinx, Eumorpha pandorus, from Colorado, but the species is found in Oklahoma, which is indicated as the western limit of the range.
help identify moth found in California desert
September 15, 2009
This moth was seen flying west on the morning of Sept. 15th, 2009 near Mission Creek on the desert slopes east of the San Bernardino Mtns in Southern California at about 1800′ elev. I captured the attached image after it landed on a shrub.
I looked for it on several sites, but haven’t found a good match. It was about three inches in length.
B. Stein
at = 33.999 + long = -116.609
Rustic Sphinx
Dear B.,
Your moth is a Rustic Sphinx, Manduca rustica, and you can see Bill Oehlke’s excellent website for additional information.
Bumblebee/Butterfly in Pennsylvania
September 10, 2009
Hi, I saw this great bug outside of a butterfly exhibit in north central Pennsylvania this summer. The butterfly “experts” were not able to identify it. Any thoughts?
Thanks, Ben
North central Pennsylvania, Allenwood, Clyde Peeling’s Reptileland park
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
Hi Ben,
In defense of the butterfly experts, probably just like many of the workers in the giant hardware store chains, they are untrained students who work for a very low wage and are not given much on the job training or information. When was the last time the person in the plumbing department was able to answer your question? Your insect is a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, Hemaris thysbe. You can see more images and get additional information on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website.
What kind of moth?
September 6, 2009
This unusual moth (to me, anyway!) has been resting on our covered patio during the daylight hours for several days. So far, I have not been able to find a close match…
Thanks!
Deb
Beaumont, Texas
Banded Sphinx we believe
Hi Deb,
There are two closely related moth species that both range in Texas and that look quite similar to one another. We believe your moth is a Banded Sphinx, Eumorpha fasciatus and you can compare you moth to the images on Bill Oehlke’s awesome website. The other species is the Vine Sphinx, Eumorpha vitis, and it can also be viewed on Bill Oehlke’s website. According to Bill Oehlke, the two moths can be distinguished from one another in the following manner: “The upperside of the moth [Eumorpha vitis] is dark pinkish brown. Each forewing has a lighter brown band along the costa, and sharp pinkish white bands and streaks. The hindwing has a pink patch on the inner margin, but lacks the pink along the outer margin, distinguishing it from fasciata. Note the large brown ‘parallelogram between lowest of three striga upwards toward the transverse lines. In E. fasciatus this same area is very small, almost non-existent.“ We are unsure of the parallelogram in question, hence our uncertainty as to the exact species.
can you help me identiffy this insect?
September 3, 2009
I found tis insect in front of my door and at first I thought that was a plastic toy but when I touched it it moved. It looks like butterfly but I’m not sure if it is one.
karolina85
new jersey, united states
Pandora Sphinx
Hi karolina85,
Your moth is a Pandora Sphinx, Eumorpha pandorus. It ranges through much of North America from Texas to the east.
giant moth
August 29, 2009
My daughter found this large moth in our screened in pool area. It is about 2 inches long. It has some pink when it spreads it wings. We have never seen anything like it and would love to know what it is.
Diane Nguyen
Ocala, FL
probably Pawpaw Sphinx
Hi Diane,
This is a Sphinx Moth, and we believe the species is the Pawpaw Sphinx, Dolba hyloeus. Of all the moths listed for Florida on Bill Oehlke’s awesome website, this seems the best match. There is a shot of the belly of the species on BugGuide, and that also looks close to your specimen. We are copying Bill Oehlke on this response to see if he can verify our identification.
probably Pawpaw Sphinx
moth ID
August 14, 2009
Mike again. I thought you’d like this pic. The larger moth is a sphinx, but what is her friend? They seemed to be a happy couple, but obviously of different species.
Mike
Edgewood, New Mexico, 7000′ pinion forest.
Five Spotted Hawkmoth and Nevada Tiger Moth, we believe
Hi Mike,
This photo of a Sphinx Moth and a Tiger Moth getting along is priceless. The Tiger Moth is probably the Nevada Tiger Moth, Grammia nevadensis, and you may read about it on BugGuide. Because of the angle of the photograph, the Sphinx may be difficult to get an exact ID from us and will probably require an expert, but it appears to be in the genus Manduca, probably the Five Spotted Hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculatus. That may be researched on Bill Oehlke’s awesome website.
Yes, I positively ID’d the hawk moth as a five spot. We have lot’s of them around here.
Mike
Fur covered looking moth
August 12, 2009
This moth stayed on our front porch for two days, left and came back the other night but left again. It is so interesting I posted it to Facebook and asked if anyone knew what it was. A friend suggested I try here. Any ideas?
Curious in Clearwater
Clearwater, FL
Tersa Sphinx
Dear Curious,
Your marvelously streamlined moth is a Tersa Sphinx, Xylophanes tersa. We also just received and are about to post a photo of a Tersa Sphinx Caterpillar.
Sphinx moth
August 11, 2009
Dear bugman; I have been trying to get a photo of this moth for 4 days . I think it may be a Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe). Today I decided to catch and cool it in the freezer for 3 minutes. When I took him out he wasn’t moving. I thought I killed him. I was dreading the thought of (UNNECESSARY CARNAGE) or worse yet, involuntary bugslauter. I put him (or her) in the sun hoping he might come around. I took over 30 photos, when he started to flutter, and dropped to the ground. I picked him up and put him back on the flower. he didn’t move for another 10 minutes. Then he just flew strait up, about ten feet and turned, and flew off.
I was browsing through the local library on Saturday, when I came across a book titled KAUFMAN Field Guide to Insects of North America. I’ve owned the Kaufman Birds of North America for many years now, and thought, if this book is half as good as the bird book it will be great. When I picked it up I saw the author was Eric Eaton. I started reading, and almost forgot to stop for lunch. The only problem now is they are going to want it back. Keep up the good work, and write that book!
Terry Sincheff
Mound, MN
Hummingbird Clearwing
Dear Terry,
We do not as yet have a tagged category for Involuntary BugSlaughter, but that would not be quite as serious a matter as our current Unnecessary Carnage tag. We do not consider accidental deaths to be cause for tagging a letter as Unnecessary Carnage. A recent example was the chilling to death of a Gold and Brown Rove Beetle. Since your Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe, survived, this is all a moot point. Your intention in chilling this specimen was to take photos and then to release the moth, as opposed to recent postings where the intention was to dispatch of a perceived threat. We will state again that it has never been our intention to vilify readers who out of fear kill a benign creature that was perceived as a threat, but to educate our readership in the event of future encounters with frightening but harmless creatures.
With regards to the KAUFMAN Field Guide to Insects of North America, it sounds like after taking the library copy for a test drive, you may need to buy your own copy. We are quite certain Eric Eaton would appreciate that. Eric is highly entertaining in print and we are quite thankful that he contributes so much to What’s That Bug? when we need correction or clarification in our identifications.
You may read more about the Hummingbird Clearwing on Bill Oehlke’s wonderful website.
Hummingbird Clearwing
