I was wondering what this moth is – basking in the heat
Living in Southern California in 100 degree+ heat brings out the oddest creatures. This moth is was baskiing in the sun atop our patio cover but has now flown. As you can see it is a significant size. It is over 2" from head to toe and has 5" wingspan when resting. It is the size of a small sparrow.
Regards
Malcolm Carter
Menifee, CA

Hi Malcolm,
Both your moth and the Modest Sphinx are referred to commonly as the Big Poplar Sphinx. Some authors consider your moth, the western species, to be a subspecies of the other. Other authors consider them to be separate species. Here is as site that names your moth Pachysphinx occidentalis.

Please Identify
We are located just east of Dallas Texas and found this bug on window today. Can you please tell me what it is? I assume those are eggs it is laying… Thanks!!

This is a female Blinded Sphinx, Paonias excaecatus, and she is laying eggs.

hummingbird moth unidentified
Think I narrowed it down to Hummingbird Moth, but can not tell what kind. Our photos show very young species first sighted Aug. 2, 2005 and second multiple sighting 20 days later. Thanks! We though we were going crazy seeing a hummingbird that looked (per photos) like a moth. I thought we had a new breed of bird in our yard! It is unmistakeable moving like a hummer but when you see the photos you are in shock! It clearly looks somewhat more like a moth. (Interesting breeding, huh?) Could not identify this exact species. Can you help?? Your website however helpful did not have our little fellow pictured. Went to the US moth website and could not find ours. First noticed one August 2, 2005. Then August 22 saw two on the same flower. One was dark charcoal and shy. The other photographed and caramel brown in color, and a show-off to boot. We live in Montgomery (Lake Conroe area), Texas. This is in Montgomery, County, Texas. They visit just before dusk and love the Blue Plumbago. Photos of "baby Hummingbird" were taken Aug. 2, 2005. Photos of "2 baby Hummingbirds" were taken Aug. 22, 2005. Interesting to see the growth in 20 days… Will continue to watch, and snap more photos.
Greg

Tersa Sphinx	Mournful Sphinx, maybe

Hi Greg,
First important lesson: There is no such thing as a baby moth. All moths are adults. They will not grow any larger. They grow as caterpillars and once they emerge from the pupa, they are fully grown adult moths. Second lesson. You have two different species. One is a Tersa Sphinx. The other is possibly Mournful Sphinx, Enyo lugubris, but we cannot tell for sure.

Name this bug! : )
Hi,
Loved your site, very helpful. Last night, after 2 years of desperately trying to describe and/or photograph one, my Husband finally caught a glimpse of the mysterious "Lobster Bug" I have been raving about, and he was able to get a photo of it with his new camera. It is amazing in the photos, so I am sending you two shots. (They’re big). The weird thing is, this one is quite colorful, while the one I caught last summer was just shades of gray and dark gray, with no colors at all, and the end of the "lobster bug" tail was just like a real lobster tail – shaped like an open fan (Note the segmented tail, like a lobster tail, even on this one). I don’t know why this one is so colorful or brush-like on the tip. Maybe it’s a male/female thing, like birds, etc, one bright, one dull? This red one seems a bit furry, too, compared to my gray one. I found photos online that said it was "Hemaris gracilis", but I wonder if the gray one I caught last year was, too. Do they have a female gray version? (Or male). My gray one was a bit smaller, too, I think. I hope you like the shots and can use them on your page. They’re about 1 to 1.5 inches long, so the photos are deceptive. Think moth – not bird, for size estimates. It’s sitting on my Butterfly bush, so those masses of flowers beneath it are really quite small. My husband was astounded when he saw it, and I’m just glad to finally have proof. He thought it might be a baby hummingbird because it is sucking nectar, but it is a bug for sure. Look at the legs, and wings. It is not a bird – of any kind. It’s a bug. Please let me know if you can tell me anything about the gray one. We’ve lived here in Southern New Hampshire for 5 years, and I’ve only seen one gray one, and one colored one, so they’re not common, and I’d like to know if they’re the same bug.
Thank you in advance,
Karen Malnati

Hi Karen,
Your husband’s images of the Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe, are pretty amazing. The gray moth you describe is probably another species of Sphinx Moth or Hawk Moth, Family Sphingidae.

large mating moths
Hi,
I found these two moths on the casing of my basement door. I thought they were leafs at first, once I realized they were moths I sure was shocked. They were on the jamb for at least 12 hours and left behind a good 50 eggs. Should I let them be or destroy them? Thanks for having such an informative web site,
Toby Rapp
Portland, Oregon

Hi Toby,
Thanks for the compliment. Your mating moths are Cerisy’s Sphinxes, Smerinthus cerisyi. They range from coast to coast in the northern US and Canada as well as south into the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Mountains. The caterpillar eats willow foilage and you might have a nearby tree. I’m sure your tree can sacrifice a few leaves for this beautiful moth.

I don’t know what this is…
Can you identify this bug? I have looked all over and still cannot find out what it is….this pic was taken in Bradenton, Fl. The bug was about an inch and a half long…and was reddish brown, with leaf like wings. Thanks, Kris

Hi Kris,
We checked with Eric Eaton because the wings seemed disproportionately small, though we thought it looked like a Tersa Sphinx, Xylophanes tersa. Eric confirmed this identification.