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Monday Morning’s Mystery 08229022
An Allendale neighbor found this guy on her sunflowers.
We have determined it's a hornworm and are now trying to figure out what it feeds on. Did not seem interested in a tomato plant. It's approx. two inches lone.
Elena Tartaglia, our moth-expert friend, says it is a Eumorpha sp.
Thoughts?
We hope to bring it to the Lee Memorial Library this morning to see if it is also a bookworm.
2 comments
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Bookworm for sure
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It looks like it *could* be a Pandorus Sphinx – https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Eumorpha-pandorus
If it is, it looks like host plants are “Grape (Vitis), ampelopsis (Ampelopsis), and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus).”
Virginia Creeper should be easy enough to get.
*** Note: I would absolutely defer to Elena Tartaglia! I could be wrong. 🙂
That being said, according to this website: https://www.jerseyyards.org/plant/parthenocissus-quinquefolia/#:~:text=Virginia%20Creeper%20is%20an%20important,Sphinx%20Moth%20(Hyles%20lineata).
… Virginia Creeper is also host to a few other sphinx moth species: ” Virginia Creeper is an important host plant for moth larvae (caterpillars), including Abbotts Sphinx Moth (Sphecodina abbottii), Pandora Sphinx Moth (Eumorpha pandorus), Virginia Creeper Sphinx Moth (Darapsa myron), and White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata).”
So it might be worth a shot anyway. 🙂
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2 comments
Sallyt
Bookworm for sure
julie
It looks like it *could* be a Pandorus Sphinx – https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Eumorpha-pandorus
If it is, it looks like host plants are “Grape (Vitis), ampelopsis (Ampelopsis), and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus).”
Virginia Creeper should be easy enough to get.
*** Note: I would absolutely defer to Elena Tartaglia! I could be wrong. 🙂
That being said, according to this website: https://www.jerseyyards.org/plant/parthenocissus-quinquefolia/#:~:text=Virginia%20Creeper%20is%20an%20important,Sphinx%20Moth%20(Hyles%20lineata).
… Virginia Creeper is also host to a few other sphinx moth species: ” Virginia Creeper is an important host plant for moth larvae (caterpillars), including Abbotts Sphinx Moth (Sphecodina abbottii), Pandora Sphinx Moth (Eumorpha pandorus), Virginia Creeper Sphinx Moth (Darapsa myron), and White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata).”
So it might be worth a shot anyway. 🙂