Mystery Moth
Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
July 13, 2011 4:36 pm
Hi,
We’re trying to identify this moth – it was about 1.5 to 2 inches wide.
Thanks!
Signature: Rob
Blinded Sphinx
Hi Rob,
We continue to get photos of the Blinded Sphinx, Paonias excaecatus, and it appears as though this female has laid a green egg on the right side of your photo. See Sphingidae of the Americas for additional information and photos.
Thanks – that’s it! I can’t believe we didn’t even notice the egg.
Rob
¶ Posted 14 July 2011 § Eggs ‡ ° Trinidad Moths
Location: Trinidad
July 10, 2011 1:35 pm
Dear Bugman,
I found your homepage by chance when I tried to identify 3 very large moths we saw two weeks ago in Trinidad.
No1 is probably a white witch (picture taken at Asa Nature Lodge); No2 should be a Rothschildia taken at the ladies restroom in the visitor Centre of the Caroni swamps. No3 is a large silkmoth (at least 10cm wingspan)we had at the Radio and Tropospheric Scatter Station at Morne Bleu (670m high in the northern range). It would be nice, if you could help me with identification and/or confirmation of the three species.
Signature: Harald (Heidelberg, Germany)
White Plagued Sphinx Moth
Hi again Harald,
Your third moth from Trinidad is a Sphinx Moth in the family Sphingidae, not a Giant Silkmoth. Alas we could not locate it on the Sphingidae of the Americas Trinidad page. We decided to try the Venezuelan page of Sphingidae of the Americas and we quickly found the White Plagued Sphinx, Manduca albiplaga, a perfect match and it includes the shocking statement: “This species has been found only once in the United States, in Kansas.” We are going to contact Bill Oehlke and we expect he may request permission to post your photo on his excellent website as well. He may even want your photo of Rothschildia lebeau amacurensis.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you very much for the great job! It will be a pleasure for us to give permission to post the pictures I sent you. I tried to downsize the files so if you would like to receive one of the files in a better resolution, please let me know. I will attach another picture of a second animal of the White Plagues Sphinx we took at the same location to this email. Since I did not want to flood your request form I did not include it in the request. Nevertheless, since you think the pictures might be of interest for people working in this field I am happy to share it with you.
Best regards and greetings from Heidelberg,
Harald
White Plagued Sphinx Moth
Hi again Harald,
We are very happy to include the new photo of the White Plagued Sphinx in the original posting.
¶ Posted 10 July 2011 § ‡ ° What is this bug?
Location: Denver, Colorado
July 8, 2011 10:23 pm
I found this moth/butterfly bug on my porch and have no clue what it is. What is it?
Signature: -Caleb
Blinded Sphinx
Hi Caleb,
This is a Blinded Sphinx, Paonias excaecatus, and we have posted numerous photos submitted in the past week from all over North America. According to BugGuide, the Blinded Sphinx ranges over: “all of United States and southern Canada.” It is curious that despite varied local weather conditions, we have received reports from so many different locations this week.
¶ Posted 09 July 2011 § ‡ ° What’s this moth?
Location: Oakland County, Michigan
July 6, 2011 11:05 am
From Oakland County, Michigan, July 2011. What is this incredible thing? Thanks in advance!
Signature: B. Cranford
Blinded Sphinx
Dear B. Cranford,
It seems Blinded Sphinxes are flying all across the country right now. This is our fourth posting of the species today.
¶ Posted 07 July 2011 § ‡ ° Sphinx Moth?
Location: Connecticut shoreline
July 7, 2011 9:52 am
These two very large moths were mating in my garden in Clinton, CT. The larger of the two is almost 3” long (head to wing tip).
I thought they might be blinded sphinxes, but they don’t have the eye on the underwing.
Beautiful and interesting, but what???
Signature: Sincerely, Toni Leland
Mating Blinded Sphinxes
Hi Toni,
You are correct. They are mating Blinded Sphinxes, but the eyespot is covered until the underwings are revealed. This is the third submission of Blinded Sphinxes we are posting today, and they seem to be eclosing from far and wide, including Washington State and Prince Edward Island, Canada.
2
¶ Posted 07 July 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: bug love Pleae help me identify this Moth.
Location: Vancouver, Washing-Pacific Northwest-USA
July 7, 2011 2:09 pm
I was sitting on my back patio when I noticed this creature clinging to my reataining wall. It’s about the size of a credit card if it was square, a tad bit wider. I do wonder if this thing could harm the plants around here. I have never seen anything like it in the 35 years I’ve lived here.
Thank you for your time!
Signature: Mary
Blinded Sphinx
Hi MAry,
This is a Blinded Sphinx and it will not harm your plants. This is also the second photo of a Blinded Sphinx we posted today, and the earlier posting shows the eyespots on the underwings.
¶ Posted 07 July 2011 § ‡ ° Bug or Bird?
Location: Bucks County, PA
July 6, 2011 8:17 pm
My wife took some pics of this bizarre creature. She thought it was a hummingbird, but closer inspection of the pics reveal what looks like insect legs, antennae and a proboscis. She said it was bright orange, had a fast wingbeat and was able to hover about the flowers. It was about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length and was not afraid of her getting close. We live in suburban Philadelphia and have no idea what this thing is as we have never seen anything like this before.
Signature: Jack
Hummingbird Clearwing
Bird or Bug
Location: Philly
July 6, 2011 8:46 pm
I just sent you a photo of a hummingbird type bug. I have since found it online and identified it as a type of hummingbird moth called a hummingbird Clearwing. I never knew these type of insects existed!
Signature: Jack
Hummingbird Clearwing
Hi Jack,
The differences between a hummingbird and one of the diurnal Sphinx Moths in the genus Hemaris are much more apparent in a photograph than they are while watching them as the flight patterns are so similar. Both insect and bird are capable of hovering still while feeding from flowers.
¶ Posted 07 July 2011 § ‡ ° A silk moth of some sort
July 6,2011
We believe this may be a silk moth of some sort. We live in Prince Edward Island.
I have several more photos of this beauty, if you would like them. With wings extended, it was around 3″+ from wingtip to wingtip. It was released peacefully.
Blinded Sphinx
We can’t help but to be amused that your Blinded Sphinx can be identified on the Sphingidae of Prince Edward Island website.
Thank you for getting back to me.
I am equally amused and dismayed that I did not find that site on my own, hehe. I am usually pretty good at web searching.
Thank you. 
Both my son and myself have greatly enjoyed capturing (and releasing!) bugs and using your site to identify ones that confuse us a bit.
¶ Posted 07 July 2011 § ‡ ° 
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