camoflage green moth
January 27, 2010
Dear bugman,
My daughter found this moth in our living room. It is about an inch long. We see one of these every once in a while, but they are not common visitors to our porch light 😉 We can’t find it in any of our “bug books” and were wondering if you could help identify it for us.
Thanks!
Kristin
Mariposa, CA
Hi Kristin,
This little beauty is Arctonotus lucidus, the Pacific Green Sphinx or Bear Sphinx. According to Bill Oehlke’s excellent website: “adults fly as a single brood from late January to March and nectar at flowers. Moths can be spotted much earlier (mid December) in more southerly locations (San Diego, California; Mexico) when weather conditions are right. ” We don’t receive many reports and images of this gorgeous moth, but since the flight times are so limited, and there may be additional sightings in February, we believe we are going to select your image and letter as our Bug of the Month for February 2010.