A Few Sphinx Moths

     White-lined sphinx moths, hummingbird moths and two kinds of hornworm moths are fairly common in southeastern Pennsylvania.  And they are attractive and interesting when seen in mid to late summer each year.  They all visit flowers to sip sugary nectar like butterflies do during the day:  The white-lines and hornworms at night, but the hummingbird moths during the day.  The caterpillars of each species have a "horn" near the rear of their bodies, which demonstrates their being related to each other.
     Sphinx moths as a group are stout-bodied with stiff, powerful wings that are swept back when those insects are at rest.  They each have a long proboscis to sip nectar, which is curled under the head when not being used.  
     White-lined sphinx moths are mostly light-brown with white lines on their two front wings and abdomens.  Their smaller back wings are pink, bordered with dark-brown.  They inhabit open areas such as meadows and gardens where flowers are abundant from southern Canada to Latin America and from coast to coast. 
     The caterpillars of  white-lined sphinx are green for camouflage, with yellow heads and two side rows of pale spots bordered with black.  These larvae eat the foliage of chickweed, purslane, apple, plum, turnip, tomato and melon.  And they overwinter as pupae in the ground.
     Hummingbird moths are daytime moths and are unmistakable when seen among blossoms with bees, butterflies and other kinds of insects there to get nectar.  Hummingbird moths resemble large bees, but hover like hummingbirds before blooms while they probe with their proboscis for nectar, then dart away to another blossom.
     Hummingbird moths inhabit forest edges, meadows and flower gardens in the eastern half of the United States.  There are two generations of them every year.  
     The caterpillars of hummingbird moths are yellowish-green with darker green lines and reddish-brown spots on their abdomens.  They consume the leaves of honeysuckles.
     The closely-related tobacco and tomato hornworm moths are about four inches long and have cryptic, grayish-brown coloring for camouflage during the day when they are at rest.  They also have a row of five yellow dots on each side of their abdomens.  They live, for the most part, in farmland in the eastern half of the United States.          
     The four-inch larvae of these two kinds of hornworm moths are seen more than the adults are, particularly in tobacco fields.  Commonly called tobacco worms, those caterpillars are green with a black horn at the rear and a V-shaped, white mark on the side of each segment.  These caterpillars ingest plants in the nightshade family, including tomato, tobacco and potato foliage, mostly at night.  They pupate in unlined cells in the ground where they fed on plants.
     Sphinx moths are pretty and interesting insects.  But one must search for them at night, except for hummingbird moths.