Big Brown Moth
Location: Houston, Texas
March 21, 2011 9:41 pm
I found this very large moth on the outside of the house in the afternoon, September 11 2009. I thought it was a weirdly stuck leaf but, on closer inspection, it turned out to be a cool moth. It seemed really docile and allowed me to pick it up and mess with it without reacting very much. I brought it inside with me and set it on a plant inside. It started acting up right then, sprayed a white fluid out of it’s rear end and started flying around. I had gotten some of the white fluid on me so it washed it off while the giant insect tried to escape. I eventually got it out of the house but not after chasing it all over and losing track of it a few times.
I found this website recently and I wondered if you could tell me what sort of moth it was and what it sprayed at me.
Signature: Thanks, Kelly Bufkin
Walnut Sphinx
Hi Kelly,
Your moth is a Walnut Sphinx, Amorpha juglandis, and you can verify that by looking at the images on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. Bill Oehlke writes: “The adults are also highly variable; sometimes wings of an individual may be all one color or may have several colors, ranging from pale to dark brown, and may have a white or pink tinge. Patterns range from faint to pronounced.” We have never heard of a Sphinx Moth spraying, and we suspect the fluid it exuded may have been a residual product of metamorphosis.
Walnut Sphinx
I looked through the moths people had sent in before and I saw a lot of other kinds of sphinxes. They did look like my moth but not quite, haha. For it to spray at me I must have scared it or something. Thank you for identifying it!
¶ Posted 22 March 2011 § ‡ ° Kona BUG!!!
Location: Kailua Kona, HI
February 16, 2011 7:26 pm
This was one of the most BEAUTIFUL bugs I have ever seen. It was HUGE to boot.
What is it??
Signature: Mesha
Oleander Hawkmoth
Hi Mesha,
This beautiful moth is an Oleander Hawkmoth. It has become naturalized in Hawaii due to the cultivation of the larval food plant, Oleander.
¶ Posted 16 February 2011 § ‡ ° Australian Wasp?
Location: Riverina, NSW, Australia
February 11, 2011 4:22 am
This insect was collecting nector from Agapanthus flowers in exactly the same manner and speed you would expect of a humming bird. Approx 40-50mm (1 1/2” to 2”) long
Signature: Dionne
Gardenia Bee Hawkmoth
Hi Dionne,
Diurnal Moths in the family Sphingidae are frequently called Hummingbird Moths because they are frequently mistaken for the tiny birds while hovering around blossoms to gather nectar. We believe your moth is a Gardenia Bee Hawkmoth, Cephonodes kingii, and you can see photos of its entire life cycle on the Butterfly House website of Australian species.
Moth?
Location: At sea, off Angola
February 3, 2011 9:34 am
Dear Mr. Bugman,
I met this fellow on an oil tanker today, about 75 miles off the coast of Angola, West Africa. It is 5-6 cm long, and was found on deck just after a thunder storm had gone by.
I believe it is a moth, but what is the full name?
Signature: Geir
Unknown Hawkmoth might be Convolvulus Hawkmoth
Hi Geir,
Upon working on this posting, we realized that this is the second time you have sent us an image of a Hawkmoth found at sea off of Angola. Your first specimen was eventually recognized as a Verdant Hawkmoth. Hawkmoths in the family Sphingidae are very powerful fliers, and that combined with with wind may have caused both specimens to alight on your oil tanker. Hopefully, we will be able to eventually provide you with a species identification for this individual as well.
Update thanks to Karl
Hi Daniel and Geir:
Your hawkmoth doesn’t show many distinguishing features and unfortunately the hind wings and abdomen are not visible. However, I think it looks very much like a Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli). This is a common and very wide spread species ranging from southern Europe and all of Africa, across southern Asia to Australia (perhaps trying to extend its range further by jumping ship?). Not surprisingly, given its range, both adults and caterpillars show considerable variation, although adult color and pattern are generally fairly drab. That said, the pattern on the thorax, the pale checkering along the trailing edge of the forewing and the banded legs appear consistent in most images. If that isn’t the correct species, I believe Agrius is at least the right genus. Regards. Karl
¶ Posted 03 February 2011 § ‡ ° large green armored bug (moth?)
Location: Lahaina, Maui, HI
February 1, 2011 12:33 am
I asked some locals, but no one seems to know what this is. Everyone is impressed by it though. It was about 3”x3” more or less. All feedback is greatly appreciated
Signature: Cindy
Oleander Hawkmoth
Hi Cindy,
The Oleander Hawkmoth pictured in your photograph is a species native to Africa and Asia, but because its caterpillar feeds upon the leaves of the poisonous oleander, the range of the species now includes Hawaii because the climate is conducive to survival and the food plant is cultivated. According to the Sphingidae of the Americas website: “In 1974, this species was recorded as having established itself in Hawaii.“
¶ Posted 01 February 2011 § ‡ ° Green Moths
Location: Lyle (High Prairie), WA, elev. 1450 feet
January 28, 2011 2:03 am
This green moth appeared in my kitchen last night (the door was open for the dog). These pictures show several views of it. This morning another appeared. Friends think that it is a Pacific Green Sphinx Moth. Is it?
I do have a couple more photos if needed. Thank you,
Signature: Martha M. Hamil
Pacific Green Sphinx
Dear Martha,
You are quite correct. This is a Pacific Green Sphinx, Arctonotus lucidus, also called the Bear Sphinx. You may read more about its habits on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. According to BugGuide: “Larvae feed on plants in the Evening Primrose Family, Onagraceae, such as Camissonia, Clarkia, and Oenothera.“ Though primrose has naturalized in the grounds of our Mt. Washington, Los Angeles offices, we have never been lucky enough to see a Pacific Green Sphinx.
Hello Daniel, I had never seen such a moth before in 72 years and now I’ve seen 3; they were unavoidable fluttering about in my house. I can see the larvae chomping away on the evening primrose roots (local farmers consider the evening primrose a noxious weed). The adults are another story; it’s mid-winter here with lows in the low thirties and upper twenties. Nothing seems to be blooming but maybe the adults do not need to servive very long.
My photos don’t do justice to the richness of color and striking appearance. I hope you get to see a Pacific Green Sphinx during the coming year and can admire it in person, Martha M. Hamil
Thanks for the update Martha.
¶ Posted 28 January 2011 § ‡ ° Cool Moth
Location: Acworth, Ga
January 26, 2011 9:02 am
While I was working at a gas station one day in the hot Georgia sun, I found this GIANT moth. Well, I’m sure he’s not quite as big as some others out there, but it was the biggest one I have ever seen myself. Actually, we have an overabundancy of huge bugs at my work, every one of the largest bugs I have ever seen have all been seen there. I started posting them to my facebook photos and someone pointed me to here to have them identified. Is it possible that something in on or around the gas station creates super-bugs, or do huge bugs really just exist and we just typically don’t see them?
Signature: Amazed Giant-bug Enquirer
Rustic Sphinx
Dear Amazed Giant-bug Enquirer,
Your moth is a species of Hawkmoth, the Rustic Sphinx. Your gas station if attracting insects because of the bright lights. We don’t know what the surrounding property is like, but often gas stations are near wooded or swampy areas, and that may also explain your insects. There are many large insects, but they go unnoticed unless they are isolated from their natural surroundings by landing on walls and windows.
¶ Posted 26 January 2011 § ‡ ° Moth
Location: Captain’s Mountain via Millmerran, Queensland, Australia
January 22, 2011 6:51 pm
We found this dead moth outside our house recently. We have never seen a moth with transparent wings. What is it? Is it usually found in our area? What does its caterpillar look like?
Signature: Mackenzie Family
Bee Hawkmoth
Dear Mackenzie Family,
You found a Bee Hawkmoth, Cephonodes kingii, a diurnal species that may be mistaken for a bee or hummingbird as it visits flowers to feed on nectar. The Brisbane Insect website has nice images of living specimens.
THANK YOU so much for getting back to us so quickly. We are guessing that the moth may have ended up on this side of the Great Dividing Range because of the cyclonic winds that have been blowing off storms towards Brisbane this month. We are about 250 km from Brisbane at the far edge of the Darling Downs. We seem to have more species of bugs this summer than ever before but there don’t seem to be any more of these bee hawk moths around.
We really appreciate you replying to us.
From Beverley Mackenzie
Hi Beverley,
Insects posted to the Brisbane Insect website often have a far greater range extending to other parts of Australia as well the islands of the South Pacific and occasionally even Asia. According to Oz Insects, Queensland is part of the range of the Bee Hawkmoth, though winds do buffet insects about and weather patterns might be responsible for range expansions.
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