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Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Sphingidae
890141 – 7822   Smerinthus cerisyi Kirby, 1837
             One-eyed Sphinx

© Carl Barrentine
Distribution: Caution: A single range map dot for a Canadian province may represent records without specific location data.
Across Canada and northern US.
Type locality: North America.
Seasonality
and Size:
Single brooded, adults fly May-August. Wingspan 62 - 90 mm.
Larva and
Host Plants:
Foodplants include poplar, willow, pear and plum. The larva is a hornworm and may be pale yellow, yellow green or blue green. The skin is granulose. Seven pairs of oblique lateral stripes and a pair of pale yellow subdorsal stripes. Horn may be yellow, pink and/or blue.
Genitalia: See Hodges (1971).
Similar Species:
  • Smerinthus cerisyi is mostly absent in western US. The blue ring within the hindwing eyespot tends to be solid, not broken into two arc as is often found in astarte. The forewing tends to have outer margin more deeply scalloped; outer margin of apical white mark more deeply notched; pm. line more jagged, composed of a series of wedge shaped dashes between the veins. In astarte the pm. line tends to forms two smooth outwardly convex arcs with dashes straighter. Intermediate examples exist. Best separated by DNA barcode.
  • Smerinthus ophthalmica is found in British Columbia and west coast states with apparently no overlap.
  • Smerinthus saliceti may be conspecific and, if so, would have priority. If they are separate species, it may be that astarte replaces saliceti north of Mexico. Both names are retained pending further study.
  • Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)
Synonymy: Smerinthus cerisyi Kirby, 1837
Smerinthus cerisyi borealis Clark, 1929
References
  • Barcode of Life (BOLD) - Caution: Some specimens shown may not be sequenced. DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness not proof of identification.
  • Barcode of Life (BOLD) - BIN: BOLD:AAA1635
  • Hodges, R. W., 1971. Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 21:p. 81; pl. 6, 17, 19, 7.1-4. order or free PDF
  • Kitching, I., R. Rougerie, A. Zwick, C. Hamilton, R. St Laurent, S. Naumann, L. Ballesteros Mejia, A. Kawahara, 2018. A global checklist of the Bombycoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Biodiversity Data Journal, 6: e22236.
  • Kitching, I.J., 2019. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory, species page
  • Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America, Pl. 39.5f; p. 242. Book Review and ordering
  • Species Page at Bill Oehlke's moth website - Smerinthus cerisyi
  • Species Page at BugGuide.Net
  • Species Page at Mass Moths
  • Species Page at Pacific Northwest Moths
  • Tuttle, J. P., 2007. Hawk Moths of North America: p. 117; pl. 11.7-8.
  • Wagner, D. L., (2005). Caterpillars of Eastern North America, pp. 260-261.
Smerinthus cerisyi
© Jason Dombroskie
Smerinthus cerisyi
© Mike Boone
Smerinthus cerisyi
70mm – © Jim Vargo
Smerinthus cerisyi
© Janice Stiefel
5th instar - 23 days
Smerinthus cerisyi
© John G. Franclemont CUIC LG

Smerinthus cerisyi
© John G. Franclemont CUIC LG


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