What is this Beautiful Bug?
Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 6:09 AM
When I first saw the Bug I thought it was a Big Green Grasshopper. It was about 4inch long 2 to 3 inches across, wider with its wing span. I took the picture’s at night, last May. The Bug was just sitting on the wall of the beach house I was renting in Costa Rica (Limon Provence) close too Boca del Rio Estrella on the Caribbean Sea.
Thank you for your Time,
Beach
Limon Provence, Costa Rica
Eumorpha phorbas
Dear Beach,
Your moth is a Sphinx Moth or Hawk Moth in the family Sphingidae. The family name and Costa Rica led us to a website with many choices. At first, we thought your moth resembled the Gaudy Sphinx, so we decided to try members of the genus Eumorpha. We quickly discovered Eumorpha phorbas on the Costa Rican Sphingidae site. There were photos of mounted specimens, but no information on the site. We then searched the name and were led to Bill Oehlke’s excellent site with photos of live specimens and information. The species, which has no common name, ranges in Central and South America. Oehlke writes: “Eumorpha phorbas broods continuously with adults on the wing every month of the year in Costa Rica and along the west coast of South America as far south as Bolivia. Adults nectar at various flowers. Eumorpha phorbas larvae probably feed upon grapes (Vitaceae), dogbane (Apocynaceae), or evening primrose (Onagraceae) families. ”
¶ Posted 19 March 2009 § ‡ ° Moths in Iraq
Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 12:24 AM
Hi there. These moths seems to come out at night especially when it rains. I am in north Iraq at the moment on an oil drilling rig. These moths are all over in the mornings but seem to dissappear as it get warmer. Would you know what they are and anything about them?
Craig
Chamchamal, Kurdistan – Iraq
Striped Hawkmoths
Hi Craig,
Thanks for sending your amazing photographs. We were struck by the similarity of your moth to the Striped Morning Sphinx or Whitelined Sphinx, Hyles lineata, found throughout much of North and South America. We checked Bill Oehlke’s wonderful website and he writes: “A somewhat similar moth, Hyles livornica occurs in Eurasia and Africa.”
Striped Hawkmoths
We then located a website that pictures and describes the Striped Hawkmoth, your species. The site indicates: “A noted migrant, generally found in open ground with few trees and shrubs, such as rough grazing land, parched hillsides and sand-dunes, or in vineyards. In semi-desert areas, huge numbers can build up during winter and spring, especially after heavy rains. An extremely active species, normally flying towards evening, when considerable numbers are often attracted to sweet-smelling flowers and to light. Pairing always takes place at dawn over a period of two or three hours. Thereafter, females can cover considerable distances whilst egg-laying. In southern Europe and North Africa, many are also active during daylight hours, especially when on migration. (See also Heinig (1981b).) ” We suspect the lights of the oil rig are attracting the great numbers of moths.
Hundreds of Striped Hawkmoths in Iraq
¶ Posted 15 March 2009 § ‡ ° Tobacco Moth
Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Hi WTB, could you tell me how long it takes for the hornworm catepillar (which enjoys devouring our tomato vines in late summer) to “morph” into what we call the tobacco / hummingbird moth, which we love watching flock by the 100s to our flower beds in the evening.
Jay
Eastern Carolina
Carolina Sphinx
Hi Jay,
Either the Carolina Spinx, Manduca sexta, or the Five Spotted Hawk Moth, Manduca quinquemaculatus, would qualify for the name Tobacco Moth and the two are quite similar in appearance. Both are found in the Carolinas and the larvae of both feed on the same plants, including tomatos. Your photos are of the Carolina Sphinx, at least the photo that depicts the individual with the six yellow spots on the abdomen. Pupation may be as short as a few weeks, or it may last throughout the winter in the colder portions of the species range. Your action photos are wonderful.
Carolina Sphinx
¶ Posted 14 February 2009 § ‡ ° Butterfly Bird
Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 8:41 PM
10/07/06 – Phoenix, Arizona – Just past sunset – I spotted this “butterfly / hummingbird”. I remember it quite large, about the size of my fist, maybe slightly smaller (although the pictures don’t justify that) and it’s wings were moving as fast as a hummingbird. It reminded me of a humming bird in every flying sense however, it had the face of a butterfly with large antennae and beautiful (thin) wings. It let me take numerous pictures before disappearing. In many of the pictures you can see it’s long straw -like tongue.
Still Amazed
Phoenix, Arizona
White Lined Sphinx
Dear Still Amazed,
This is a White Lined Sphinx or Striped Morning Sphinx, Hyles lineata, one of the Hawk Moths. It is probably the most common Hawk Moth in North America and is found in all 48 lower states. It is a common desert species and after a rainy year, thousands of caterpillars appear. Those years, the adult moths are also quite plentiful. The caterpillar feeds on many plants, but fuschia is a favorite. The adult moths are often attracted to lights where they are found resting the following day. Moths take nectar from many flowers, including the lantana in your photo, and honeysuckle. Your action photos are spectacular.
White Lined Sphinx
2
¶ Posted 11 February 2009 § ‡ ° a moth
Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 3:54 AM
i just saw a moth in our locality that needs to be identified please help me out with it the moth had green colouring with stripes of purple and light pink.
ketul.barot
mumbai,maharashtra,india
Oleander Hawk Moth
Dear Ketul.Barot,
Your moth is an Oleander Hawk Moth, Deilephila nerii or sometimes Daphnis nerii , according to Bill Oehlke’s wonderful web site which indicates the range as “the southern Mediterranean region, North Africa and the Middle East to Afghanistan.” The species has also been introduced to Hawaii and the use of the cultivated food plant oleander in many areas will no doubt result in additional range expansion beyond the current reports of Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
¶ Posted 09 February 2009 § ‡ ° Achemon Sphinx moth
Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Hi, I found this beautiful Achemon Sphinx moth on my porch one evening in August in Riverside California . Is it unusual to find these moths in southern California? Thanks to your site I found the name of this moth after searching & looking through your earlier posts. I thought you might want to post my photo since I noticed there arent any recent Achemon Sphinx posts on your site.
Thanks, Alicia
Southern California
Achemon Sphinx
Hi Alicia,
According to Bill Oehlke’s excellent website, the Achemon Sphinx, Eumorpha achemon, is a common species in San Diego County.
¶ Posted 23 January 2009 § ‡ ° please identify this small moth, black and orange, delta shaped body and wings
Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 1:17 AM
we found this moth on 18/01/09, mid summer, 1100am, approx 27degrees celcius, fine sunny weather, at my house near stockton beach, newcastle on the upper central coast of new south wales australia. it was on a small branch that i cut off a bottle brush tree ‘genus Callistemon’ it is approx 5cm across its wingspan and about 3cm long it is black with distinctive orange markings on its upper wing, it has 2 clear circular ‘windows’ toward its wingtips, it has an orange/pink/red underbody, it has a spiked tail and looks like it may be dangerous. could you please identify it for me, we have extensively searched the CSIRO australan moths website.and have been unsucessful in identifying it.
Dave
-32° 49′ 151° 54′ , on branch near stockton beach, newcastle, new south wales, Australia
Coprosma Hawkmoth
Hi Dave,
We actually did identify your Australian Hawkmoth as Cizara ardeniae on the CSIRO website, but there was no information on the species. Once we had the species name, we found a page on the Coprosma Hawk Moth on the Moth Caterpillars of Australia website which we had searched unsuccessfully earlier.
Cisara ardeniae
That site has many images of the caterpillars and adult moths with this description: “The moth itself is a handsome dark brown, with white edges to the wings and white bars across the wings and abdomen. It normally rests with these white bars aligned on each side to form a single stripe across the moth. This may give effective camouflage, misleading the eye to see the front and back as separate entities, neither of which is especially shaped like a moth. “ The adult moth was also pictured on a 1991 Australian postage stamp.
Coprosma Hawkmoth
What is this moth? Is it a hawk moth?
Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Found these moths on a poinsettia here in Katy (Houston) Texas, January 2, 2009. They may have arrived with the plant which came down from Cheyenne Wyoming, or possibly from Dayton, Ohio where the car carrying the plant came from, or they may be a Texas bug since we didn’t notice the bugs at first.
K Whitley
Katy, Texas 77450
Mournful Sphinxes
Hi K,
You are correct. These are Hawk Moths in the family Sphingidae, more specifically, they are Mournful Sphinxes, Enyo lugubris. You can see more images and read information about this species on Bill Oehlke’s excellent website. It is a Texas species.
¶ Posted 10 January 2009 § ‡ ° 
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