Subject: Moth
Location: Montebello, CA
April 2, 2013 6:40 pm
So I found this guy outside my friend’s house and had to catch him…however I can’t identify him. He is a bit bigger than a Half Dollar and well I need some help 🙂
Signature: George
Dear George,
If our front porch is any indication, there are record numbers of Whitelined Sphinxes or Striped Morning Sphinxes, Hyles lineata, flying in Southern California this year, which means there were probably numerous Whitelined Sphinx Caterpillars last year, and if favorable conditions prevail, they will continue to multiply as long as there is a larval food source available. We suspect that caterpillars feed on the fuschia we have growing in the shade garden outside our Mount Washington, Los Angeles offices, but caterpillars also feed on a wide variety of native desert foliage. We were struck by one moth flying at dusk near our native plant garden and six individuals congregated at the porch light during the night. One unfortunate individual was trampled when we failed to notice it on the welcome mat.
Update: April 6, 2013
Last night, there was a knocking at the front door. A mother raccoon and two cubs were tring to catch the Whitlined Sphinxes that were resting on the screen door. Then this morning we opened the door to this surprise: 4 Sphinxes were resting near the top of the door, well out of the reach of the raccoon. Going outside revealed two more. We can only wonder how many were eaten.
