Sphinx kalmiae

Laurel sphinx
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Sphinx
Species: S. kalmiae
Binomial name
Sphinx kalmiae
J. E. Smith, 1797[1]

Sphinx kalmiae (laurel sphinx) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in the temperate parts of the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains, in the north it occurs west of the Rocky Mountains.

The wingspan is 75–103 mm.

In Canada, there is one generation per year with adults on wing in June and July. More to the south, there are two generations per year with adults on wing from late May to June and again from July to August. There may be as many as six generations in Louisiana.

The larvae feed on Chionanthus, Kalmia, Syringa and Fraxinus species. They are blue-green or yellow-green with seven diagonal lines that are white edged with black above and usually yellow below.

Images

References

  1. ↑ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-11-01.


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