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Bug Info
Hey, i was wondering if you could tell me if this is a moth and what kind if it is one. I was told it was a locust. I cant find a way to believe it though. On the bottom of the wings its red and green. Its a very beautiful bug. Wasnt harmed either. I was looking around on the site and it looks some what like the modest sphinxes. But im not sure. Thanks.
Rob
Hi Rob,
What a nice photo of a Banded Sphinx, Eumorpha fasciatus.
good morning from Georgia! I have a moth photos/questions please…
I love your site! Its so interesting, informative, and well-organized! Definitely going to be a ‘recommend’ on my web-page design classes’ best sites list! (you can get awards and recognition for having a well organized, user friendly website). I digress I have attached a picture of what I believe may be a really large Rustic Sphinx Metamorphosis. Other folks have emailed you pictures of this moth but from those (and mine); I noticed that they seem to have an odd affinity for ‘brick’ surfaces during the day. Our office has plenty of wooded area for this moth to have been in but he/she was right by our side door all day long. Hope you don’t mind the perspective shot with the quarter so you can see the moth’s size. By the way, is it true that the large green and rust colored Luna moth’s don’t have mouths? That they just live a short time to mate and die? I have several shots of them at gas stations here in Georgia. If you’d like any of them let me know…if not I’m more than happy with an answer to any of my questions. Thank you! Again, you have a wonderful website!!
Kate
Hi Kate,
Thank you for the compliments. We got another Rustic Sphinx photo yesterday, so we have decided to post your image in case there are other people out there who need an identification. We are not sure about the Rustic Sphinx’s affinity to brick walls, though we image their coloration is an example of evolution and camouflage since the pattern resembles tree bark. You are correct. Luna Moths, along with other Giant Silkmoths or Saturnid Moths, do not feed as adults.
British Bug Postcards
Hi Bugman,
Just thought I would let you know about my new website where you can order a postcard to be sent from Britain to any address in the world. People told me I couldn’t just have ‘creepy-crawlies’ on there, so there are other pictures… but the bugs are my favourite. Your site is an inspiration, I link to it from all of my sites! Attached is a picture of an Elephant Hawkmoth that I grew myself!
Daisy
Hi Daisy,
We have always been enormous fans of “Mail Art” and your site is a wonderful idea. WE hope you get a few orders through our link. Thanks for sending in your Elephant Hawkmoth image.
Oleander Hawkmoth? in North Carolina!
Hello,
My 6 yr old son (who can find a bug no matter where it tries to hide) found this guy on an air conditioner unit in Denver, NC. Is it normal to find these in NC? It’s not native?
Jeff and Beck Classey
Hi Jeff and Beck,
This is a Pandora Sphinx, not an Oleander Hawkmoth, and it is a resident for your area.
check these out!
Here are a few bugs I have found recently… I am especially interested in the moth with horns. Do you think there is any cosmic relevance to me finding all these random bugs in the last few months? –
Tony, Hyannis, MA.
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| Small Eyed Sphinx | Azalea Sphinx |
Hi Tony,
The “horned” moth you have photographed is a Small Eyed Sphinx, Paonias myops. In answer to your theoretical question, perhaps you are more observant and in tune with your environment now than you have been in the past. If we are able, we will downloac your other images and try to identify them, but our current mail volume does not really allow us to answer multiple identifications in a single letter. If any image is especially pressing, please send a separate description along with a single attached photograph. Thank you for understanding.
After posting your letter and responding, we were curious and opened another of your enclosed images. This is an Azalea Sphinx, Darapsa pholus (now choerilus), and as it is a moth in the same family as the One Eyed Sphinx, Sphingidae, we decided to post it as well. We shutter to think what we might find if we continue to open your attachments.
are these related?
I sent pictures earlier this year of a pair of mating grapevine beetles and was thrilled to see them on your site. I’ve never seen them before in this area (Shore of Georgian Bay, Ontario), but shortly after that my son sent me an email saying they had one flying around their back porch light. Earlier in the summer I scared up this large moth while hosing down my front porch, and got this picture (aren’t digital cameras great?). Just this morning I went out on my back deck and found this huge caterpillar on my deck. I have been on your site and think that the caterpillar may be an Io moth caterpillar? Is this correct and I was wondering if these two bugs(the moth and the caterpillar) are related? Your site is very informative and educational and the pictures are incredible—digital cameras have made photographers of us all. The person who states she will not visit your site again IS way too sensitive and needs to chill out—and she is definitely the one losing out on a good thing. Keep up the incredible work—it gives those of us who are fascinated with our cameras and taking pictures of wildlife, both large and miniature, an outlet to show off our stuff. Thanks again
Gloria
Hi Gloria,
Nice to hear from you again. We love repeat correspondance. Your caterpillar is an Io Moth, and it is an excellent shot, but we have just prepared another Io Moth Caterpillar for posting today. Your moth is a Blinded Sphinx, Paonias excaecatus, and it is a different family that the Io. Thank you also for your kind words regarding our volatile situation.
Underwing moth?
I took this in St. Peters, Missouri, Aug 24, 2006. About 3 inches long. (a penny is 3/4 in) I put a penny down to compare but didn’t want to get too close. So, I pasted the penny closer. Look at the design on the 2nd photo – top of his back??? Face of a Lion !! I’m trying to get a identification of the species.
Barb
Hi Barb,
This is Manduca quinquemaculata, the Five Spotted Hawkmoth. The caterpillar is the infamous Tomato Hornworm.
Tomatoe Hornworm
I discovered your site when searching for Hummingbird Moths. A name I thought my neighboor made up. I now have a clan of these coming to my flowers in the evening. I believe the first told their friends and they told their friends…… Anyway, after taking 80 pictures (thank heavens for digital) I found I got like 4-5 good ones. I thought I’d send them to you to use if you’d like. Hummingbird Moth 1 is my favorite. I’ve been trying to better the shot by catching it with more light but have not been successful.
Enjoy
Country People
Hi Folks,
What great photos of the Tobacco Sphinx, Manduca sexta.
Macro Photo – Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, Hemaris thysbe, Sphinx Moth
Dear Bugman,
I thought you might enjoy this photo of a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe: Sphinx Moth) that I took on August 22nd at 6:30PM. According to a Senior Research Scientist at my firm in Research Development and Engineering within the Insect Control department, "there are many Sphinx moths, also called Hawk Moths, in the moth family Sphingidae. The clear-winged species lack scales on large portions of their wings making them see-through at those spots. There are also clear-winged species in a different family (Sesiidae). The larvae of the sphinx moths are called "hornworms", large plant pests with a conspicuous horn or spikelike growth on their tail end." I took the image with a Canon Digital Rebel EOS with at a 55mm zoom with a diopter (macro) lens attached to the end of it at 1/60th of a second with flash at an aperture of f5.6 @ISO-100. The wings flap so fast that you can’t see them without a fast shutter speed… It hovers like a baby hummingbird, but has a proboscis like that of a butterfly. It was about 2 inches wide by 2 inches long… Feel free to add this to you site with credit to my name! Thanks for an amazing insect site!
JASON T. KOLESARI
Muskego, WI
Hi Jason,
Thank you for an amazingly beautiful photograph. We do have a major issue with the information your “expert” provided. Please march into her or his office and demand a definition of a “plant pest”. Merely being a vegetarian should not constitute pestilence. Sure, Sphingid Larvae eat plant leaves, but they are rarely ever numerous enough to denude a plant. Several species of Hyles have been imported to the American Northwest to help control introduced invasive weeds. That is not a pest. Sure, the occasional Manduca takes a bite from a green tomato while feeding on the leaves, but we let the Hormworms live on our tomato plants and still have more tomatoes than we can eat and give away. Adult Sphingid Moths are important pollinators. If exterminators killed the Hormworms, we would not have adult moths. Your “expert” has made our blood boil. Have a nice day and once again, thank you for a gorgeous photo of a “plant pest”.
Bugman,
Assuredly, the insect expert over here does not share the same setiments as I. Keep in mind that he is in the insect control business. I, on the other hand, can’t wait for this beautiful specimen to grace my gardens with it’s presence again! I was awestruck and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It let me get so close to it so I could even get live photos with a macro lens. It hovered about like a hummingbird. Graceful but quiet. I will try to get some more snapshots when it arrives again. Thanks again for a great website! Best regards,
JASON T. KOLESARI
Muskego, WI
moth
Hello
This moth was found by my 9 year old daughter by our garden gate today. We live just outside of Exeter in Devon, the UK.
Clare
Hi Clare,
We don’t have much difficulty identifying Hawkmoths from the UK as there is good material online. This is a Striped Hawkmoth, Hyles livornica.
Snowberry Clearwings Mating
Your web site has been very helpful to me in identifying insects. In fact, I was able to identify these mating Snowberry Clearwings from your site. You mentioned it is difficult to get sharp photos of Clearwings, so I thought I’d send you this one which does have one set of wings and their joined bodies quite clear. If you think it is worth while, you may post it on your site. The photo was made in southeastern Iowa on a butterfly bush on August 17, 2006.
Lora P Conrad
Hi Lora,
We are trying to post some older letters this morning, and your photo is quite lovely. We had to crop and rotate it to take advantage of the allowable space. Thank you.
Camo Moth
This moth was found in Indiana, it is approximatly 2 1/2 " W x 3 1/2 " L Please let us know. Thanks!
We have received other letters in the past describing the Pandora Sphinx as a Camo Moth.
