ENY 3005 Family Identification
Lepidoptera: Sphingidae
Pronunciation: sFIN-gi-dee
Common names: sphinx moths, hawk moths
Tersa sphinx, Xylophanes tersa
Identifying characteristics for the family Sphingidae include:
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Apex of front wing acute; hind wing much smaller than front.
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Antennae sometimes thickened; frequently curved or hooked at the tips,
but never knobbed like butterflies and skippers.
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Additional information:
Caterpillars of the Sphingidae are commonly known as hornworms.
References:
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Pages 230-231 and plate 10 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field
Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
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Pages 290-292 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects,
3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
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Page 30 and plates 3-7 in C. V. Covell, Jr. 1984. A Field Guide to the
Moths of Eastern North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 496 p.
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Page 652 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An
Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College
Publishing. 875 p.
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Page 554 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction
to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.
Links to other web sites
Tersa sphinx, Xylophanes tersa
For more information on this species, go to
Moths of North America
Hummingbird clearwing, Hemaris thysbe
For more information on this species, go to
Moths of North America
Links to other Lepidoptera taxa: Papilionidae,
Pieridae, Lycaenidae,
Nymphalidae, Danaidae,
Satyridae, Hesperiidae,
Sphingidae, Saturniidae,
Geometridae, Arctiidae,
Noctuidae, Sesiidae.
The catalpa hornworm image above was extracted from "Forest Insects
and Their Damage," a two-volume set of Kodak Photo CDs produced by the
Southern Forest Insect Work Conference. For further information check out
the SFIWC web site:
Return to ENY 3005 Index to Orders
Prepared by John L. Foltz,
University of Florida, Dept of Entomology & Nematology. Last modified 6 March 2003.