Sphingidae - Tumblr Posts

Moth of the Week

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

Hemaris thysbe

The hummingbird clearwing moth is a part of the family Sphingidae or the hawkmoth family and was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. The name Hemaris Thysbe is thought to be a reference to Thisbe, one of the doomed lovers in Ovid's Metamorphoses, due to the color of Thisbe’s blood-stained scarf and the maroon color of the moth. Additionally, the name hummingbird clearwing is due to the humming noise created by the rapid flapping of the moth’s transparent wings.

Description The hummingbird clearwing moth typically has an olive green and maroon back with a white or yellow and maroon underside. It has pale legs and no stripes, which is how you tell this moth apart from other in its genus, Hemaris. Its wings are transparent with a maroon border. After hatching, the hummingbird clearwing’s wings are a fully opaque dark red to black. Then the wing’s scales fall off when the moth takes flight, resulting in a clear wing with maroon borders and visible veins. However, a moth’s color and wing patterning varies between individual moths. For example, moths born in the south or later in the mating season are darker in color, and different populations have varying wing border shapes.

Average wingspan of 4.75 cm (≈1.9 in)

Up to 70 wingbeats per second

Can fly up to 12 mph (≈19.3 kph)

Diet and Habitat When in their caterpillar stage, these moths eat the leaves of cherry trees, European cranberry bushes, hawthorns, dogbane, honeysuckle, and snowberry bushes. Adult hummingbird moths feed on the nectar from flowers such as the Wild Bergamot and beebalm, red clovers, lilacs, phloxs, snowberry, cranberry, blueberry, vetch and thistle. The hummingbird clearwing prefers purple and pink flowers. They use their long proboscis or feeding tube to collect nectar from the flowers while flying in front of it like a hummingbird.

The average proboscis is 20 mm (≈0.8 in)

These moths are the most common in southern Ontario and the eastern United States. Their habitat ranges from Alaska to Oregon in the west and from Newfoundland to Florida in the east. They migrate northward from April to August and southward in late spring and the fall. They inhabit forests, meadows, and suburban gardens.

Mating The hummingbird clearwing has two broods a year in the south, but only one in the north. Mating takes place in May and June as females attract males with pheromones produce from glands at the tip of the abdomen. Female hummingbird moths will lay 200 eggs that will hatch in only 6 to 8 days.

Predators Hummingbird moths and caterpillars in general are hunted by birds, mantids, spiders, bats. To help protect themselves, these types of moths resemble hummingbirds or bees to fool predators.

Fun Fact Adults hummingbird clearwing moths are most active during the hottest parts of the day and have no hearing abilities due to a lack of “hearing organs.”

(Source: Wikipedia, Life On CSG Pond, United States Department of Agriculture, Georgia Wildlife Federation, Beyond Pest Control)

Moth of the Week

Oleander Hawk Moth

Daphnis nerii

The oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae, or the hawk moth family. It was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. The moth gets its names from the oleander plant it feeds on and it’s green colors.

Description This moths body is covered in varying shades of green with accents of tan, while, gray, pink, and black. The shades of each color varies per moth. The intricate patterns on the moth are symmetrical and mirror each other. At its head, the moth is dark green with white details, which then splits into a light green. After the light green is a band of white then a segmented green lower body. The forewings are similar with a dark green and white top and two eye like spots at the next to the head. The forewings turn pink near the center and transition back into green and white with a purple-grey mark on the lower edge. The forewings are shaped differently then most with a curved cut u see the purple-gray mark. The hindwings are much smaller and the same purple-gray with a green bottom edge. The antenna are filiform or wires.

Average wingspan: 11 cm (≈4.3 in)

Diet and Habitat The caterpillars mainly eat the leaves of the oleander plant. This plant is highly toxic, however, the caterpillars are immune. They also eat other plants of the dogbane family and the unbloomed flowers of the pinwheelflower at night. The adults feed on nectar from flowers. They prefer fragrant flowers like petunia, jasmine and honeysuckle. They drink at night. This species is found in wide areas of Africa, Asia and Hawaii. It flies to eastern and southern Europe during the summer, particularly Turkey. On rare occasions, they can even reach western Europe such as England and Scotland. They prefer warm habitats on hillsides and scrublands. In southern Europe, this moth finds itself home in dry riverbeds.

Mating Amount of eggs and season unrecorded. However, the flight season for oleander hawk moths is August to October which may also be when they hatch.

Predators This moth is hunted by birds, lizards, bats, and other common moth predators. The caterpillars of the oleander hawk moth use eyespots to trick predators into thinking they are larger animals.

Fun Fact Moths in the Sphingidae family have impressive flying and hovering ability. This ability is used to drink the nectar from flowers.

(Source: Wikipedia, AZ Animals, Time To Breed, Butterfly Conservation, Pyrgus.de)

Moth of the Week

African Death’s-Head Hawkmoth

Acherontia atropos

The African death's-head hawkmoth is part of the family Sphingidae and is the most widely recognized of the three species of Death’s-Head Hawkmoth. The species was described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. Its common name comes from the skull shape on the back of its thorax. It’s binomial name comes from the river Acheron in Greece, which was believed to lead to the Underworld, and the Greek goddess Atropos respectively.

Description The forewings are black/brown with mottled shades of brown while the hindwings are buff orange with two black/brown stripes that curve with the edge of the hindwing. The head and thorax are the same black/brown color as the forewings interrupted by the brown skull on the back of the thorax. The abdomen is the same buff color as the hindwings with similar stripes of the same color. There is also a single stripe down the center of the abdomen called the “dorsal stripe.”

Average Wingspan: 13 cm (5 in)

Females are large than males with a rounded abdomen tip and larger, thicker antennae

Males have a pointed abdomen tip

Diet and Habitat Larva of this species mainly eat the leaves of potato plants which have alkaloids. The larva accumulate these toxins to become unpalatable to predators. Adults eat the nectar of flowers and stolen honey from the beehives of the Western Honey Bee. They are able to mimic the scent of bees and steal the honey undetected. They use their proboscis, a tube used to drink nectar and honey, to break the honey comb.

Their ranges stretches from the Middle East, as far south as the southern tip of Africa, as far north as southern Great Britain, as far east as India and western Saudi Arabia, and as far west as the Canary Islands and Azores. It is known to move into western Eurasia, but a majority do not survive the winter.

Mating This moth has multiple generations per year. In Africa, the broods are continuous. In the northern range, the larva overwinter in the pupal stage. Eggs are laid singly on the underside of species in mainly Solanaceae but also Physalis, Verbenaceae, Cannabaceae, Oleaceae, Pedaliaceae and others.

Predators This moth can emit a special squeak noise by sucking in air to vibrate a flap in its mouth and throat. The purpose of this squeak is unclear, but the two hypotheses are it is to scare away predators or to mimic the sound of a queen bee makes for the workers to stop moving to easier raid beehives for honey. They are also immune to bee venom and can mimic the scent of bees.

Fun Fact This moth has appeared many times in pop culture as symbols of death and evil:

It appeared in The Hireling Shepherd, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Un Chien Andalou, the promotional marquee posters for The Silence of the Lambs, in the music video to Massive Attack's single, "Butterfly Caught,” and on the American edition's cover of José Saramago's novel Death with Interruptions.

It is mentioned in Susan Hill's Gothic horror novel I'm the King of the Castle and John Keats’s "Ode to Melancholy.”

It is referred to in The Mothman Prophecies.

Finally, the moth is used as a calling card by the serial killer Buffalo Bill. However, in the movie script they are referred to under a different species of death’s-head hawkmoths.

(Source: Wikipedia, Simple English Wikipedia)

Moth of the Week

White-Lined Sphinx

Hyles lineata

The white-lined sphinx is a part of the family Sphingidae. They are sometimes known as the hummingbird moth because of their size and how they hover over flowers for nectar. The were first described in 1775 by Johan Christian Fabricius as Sphinx lineata.

Description The forewings are dark brown with tan stripe cutting across mirrors on both sides. The veins of the forewings are lined in white. The top edge of the forewing or the “costal margin” is outlined in a light brown and the forewing’s side edge or the “outer margin” is lined in gray. The hindwings are black with a pink stripe called the “median band.” The furry body is also dark and light brown with black, pink, and white stripes and spots.

Wingspan Range: ≈5.1 - 7.6 cm (2 -3 in)

Diet and Habitat Caterpillars of this species eat a variety of plants such as: Willow weed (Epilobium), Four o'clock (Mirabilis), Apple (Malus), Evening primrose (Oenothera), Elm (Ulmus), Grape (Vitis), and more. Caterpillars can form large groups when finding food and damage many gardens and crops.

Adult moths drink the nectar from various flowers such as: Columbines, Larkspurs, Four o'clock (Mirabilis), Petunia, Honeysuckle, Moonvine, and more. The type of flower an adult feeds from depends on the visibility during certain times of the day. At night they will feed from white flowers because they are easier to see in the dark. Durning the day, they will feed on brighter flowers.

This moth has a large range spanning from Southern Canada down to Central America, going through Mexico and most of the United States. They are found occasionally in the West Indies and on even rarer occasions in Eurasia and Africa. They live in habitats such as deserts, gardens, suburbs, and the Mountains of Colorado. However their population varies in many places.

Mating This moth has two generations per year with more in warmer climates. Eggs are laid in the spring on the host plants. A female can lay hundreds of eggs, which overwinter as larvae and emerge in February to November. This is also when they begin eating.

Predators This moth prefers to fly at night but can be seen during the day. It is preyed on by common enemies of moths: birds and bats.

Fun Fact Caterpillars were, and still are in some places, eaten by Native Americans. They were skewered, roasted, and dried to store/ground. When compared to hamburger meat, the larvae have almost as much fat but 1/3 less saturated fat and more energy in calories, protein, carbohydrate, riboflavin, and niacin.

(Source: Wikipedia, Moth Identification)

This is a pacific green sphinx/bear sphinx!! They're highly attracted to light apparently, and among the first sphingidae moths/hawkmoths you'll see flying around during the year. You can read more in this article, which i thought was pretty fascinating :>

Thanks for introducing me to this moth op, might be one of my new favourites :)

Moth outside dunno what it is but it's pretty!

[ID: Six photos of a hummingbird hawk-moth, flying around small, purple flowers. End ID]

Walnut Sphinx