Subject: what moth is this?
Geographic location of the bug: nea makri, attiki, greece
Date: 02/10/2019
Time: 08:21 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: hello i found this moth outside my house it looks like tersa sphinx but not quite do you happen to know what is it? also (though i have no photos amd i understand if you cant answer that) around 2010 some black spiders had appeared(havent seen any ever since), they were hairy(a little bit, nothing like tarantulas), about 10 cm, with fat legs(but still not as fat as tarantulas) do you happen to understand what kind they were? thank you very much 🙂
How you want your letter signed: Maria
Dear Maria,
Though it resembles the North American Tersa Sphinx, we believe your individual is a Levant Hawkmoth, Theretra alecto, based on images posted to Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa. According to Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic: “Occurs in areas where grapes are grown. Little is known about the behaviour of this species except that it is attracted to flowers and light.” Your black hairy spiders might have been endangered Ladybird Spiders.
thank you very very much for your answer. yes i saw about levant and i think its the one. im sorry i dont have photos of the spider. back in 2010 we didnt have such good phones to take accurate photos in the dark :/ unfortunately the one i saw was much bigger like a palm of a hand. maybe some spiders someone left loose? maybe thats the reason noone have seen one again ever since.. but no matter what thank you so much for your response have a good day 🙂