Pandorus Sphinx

Subject:  Moth
Geographic location of the bug:  Chester,CT
Date: 07/05/2020
Time: 11:38 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I saw this beautiful moth when I was out walking last week.  I am not sure the exact name of this bug, hoping you can help!
How you want your letter signed:  Heather S.

Pandorus Sphinx

Dear Heather,
This beauty is a Pandorus Sphinx, and according to iNaturalist:  “Female adults lay translucent eggs singly on leaves of the host plant, mainly Vitis (grapes), and Parthenocissus (Virginia creeper). Caterpillars are large, green or red with a swollen third thorax segment into which the head and first two thoractic segments can be drawn. The abdomen has a small white spot on the second segment, and big white oval spots the last five spiracles. They also have the characteristic “horn” at the end of the abdomen, until it is replaced by a button in its last instar. Larvae consume copious amounts of foliage, and when they are ready they climb down their host plant and burrow underground, where they pupate. The pupa is dark brown in color, quite slender, and has a long cremaster. There the pupa will remain for either a couple of weeks or a couple of months, depending on the generation. When the pupa is ready, it wiggles to the surface just prior to eclosion. The newly emerged adults then climb on a plant or some other surface, and pump fluid into their wings to extend them. Females emit pheromones at night, and males fly into the wind to pick up and track the pheromone plume. “

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