WWW Moth Photographers Group website only

Digital Guide to Moth Identification

226675 – 7786 – Ceratomia amyntor – Elm Sphinx Moth – (Geyer, 1835)

Photographs are the copyrighted property of each photographer listed. Contact individual photographers for permission to use for any purpose.

© Jim Farrell Large Map & Chart Report Errors About Maps

Distribution: Found in Canada from Nova Scotia west to Saskatchewan. In the US, it occurs from New England west to North Dakota, Nebraska and Eastern Colorado. It is less common in the south, but can be found from Florida to eastern Texas. Seasonality and Size: One brood in the north from May-Oct, two broods in the south. Wingspan 88 - 115 mm. Larva and Host Plants: Larva is brown or green, with spinulose horns on the thorax, in addition to the horn at the end of the abdomen, leading to its alternate common name of Four-horned Sphinx. Much of the body is covered with white granules and a ridge of scalelike plates runs down the dorsal midline. The food plants are elm, basswood, and birch. Description/ Field Marks: brown thorax with wide darker brown stripes towards the edges. forewing light brown with whitish pm. line, dark streaks along veins, white tint along the costa and whitish reniform spot. hindwing brown with a dark brown border and incomplete lines. Similar Species: C. hageni: pattern overlaid with green, pale gray patches at tip of forewing and mid-costa. Found only in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas. C. sonorensis: found in southern Arizona, 3 black dashes on forewing. C. undulosa (Waved Sphinx): reniform spot large, white with black outline. C. catalpae (Catalpa Sphinx): yellowish brown with relatively indistinct lines on forewing. Reniform spot black with gray filling.

References

Species Page at BugGuide.Net Species Page at BOLD Barcoding Project. Bill Oehlke's Species Page. Covell Field Guide p.33; Pl. 3(9, male). Hodges, R. W., 1971. Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 21:p. 41; pl. 2.6. order Species page at E. H. Strickland Museum. Species page at Moths of North Dakota. Tuttle, J. P., 2007. Hawk Moths of North America: p. 63; pl. 9.8. Wagner, D. L., (2005). Caterpillars of Eastern North America, p. 250.

Data compiled and contributed by Nolie Schneider from references cited.

© Alan Chin-Lee © D. Lynn Scott © Patrick Coin © Janice Stiefel - m. © Nolie Schneider

100mm – © Jim Vargo

© Canadian National Collection LG

Moth Photographers Group  at the  Mississippi Entomological Museum  at the  Mississippi State University

Send suggestions, or submit photographs to Webmaster — Moth Photographers Group

Database design and scripting support provided by Mike Boone