Laurel Sphinx

Just because I got an iNaturalist ID on this moth today, I'm going to show you a Laurel Sphinx moth from a mothing program 6+ years ago. As moth afficionados have no doubt guessed, the Laurel Sphinx is a type of sphinx moth, a family that includes popular moths like the Virginia Creeper, the Hummingbird Clearwing, and the Snowberry Clearwing. 

As immature, adolescent caterpillars, these moths generally eat lilac and ash tree leaves. (I'm not sure whether they eat any other parts of these plants, though I'm skeptical that they can eat both soft leaves and also hard/woody parts of the plants. Perhaps flowers are fair game too?)

As you might have guessed from the moth's diet, this does suggest a relationship between ash trees and lilacs; they're both in the olive family.

August 26, 2017 at Duke Farms
Photo 10126742, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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