Bring on the Sphingids...

I thought I'd blast you with a few sphingid pix from the last couple of weeks. These fantastic creatures are often large and flashy and thus are very appealing to those with even a very moderate interest in moths. Many species are quite common but it is only when you set out to catch them that you appreciate just how numerous they can be. Lights and light traps are a good way to lure them, but you can also visit flowers at dusk and wait for them to start feeding. Catching them with a net is the best way to identify them. But be warned, once caught they are hopping mad and it takes a long time for them to settle down, often damaging themselves within the jar in the process. Best to have a cooler handy to deposit the jarred moths into so they can "chill out" a bit whilst awaiting identification and photo session.

The photo above depicts a Walnut Sphinx which I caught up at Portage Lake last weekend. Lovely innit...


This a Big Poplar Sphinx. Quite common in well wooded areas. Very large and a bit unsettling when they bumble up to the sheet looking a bit like a floppy bat.


A Northern Apple Sphinx. One of the more drab gray species, of which there are a few. This one is common in wooded areas in cottage country for example. Note the black thorax and the white dot in the middle of the forewing.


A Northern Pine Sphinx. One of our smallest sphinx moths, it is wonderfully cryptic when settled on the bark of a tree trunk. Common wherever there are Pines.


A Snowberry Clearwing. There are a number of day-flying sphingids of which this is one of the more common. They are easy to see on hot sunny days whilst they whizz from one patch of flowers to another in search of nectar. The pale buff edges to the thorax is a good identification feature of this brilliant moth.


A Hog Sphinx. One of the most common species in southern Ontario. It is quite variable in appearance, this one being distinctly on the green side - others are brown or tan.


Azalea Sphinx. I don't catch too many of these so this nice crispy fresh individual was a real treat. Great pinkish colours on this medium-sized sphingid.


Finally, a Bedstraw Hawk Moth. Only my second so I was well pleased with this one. It is an introduced European species. When I was in UK last year I was praying for one of these since they are a rare migrant from southern Europe over there. I never did catch one!