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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths (Bombycoidea) » Sphinx Moths (Sphingidae) » Sphinginae » Sphingini » Sphinx » Vashti Sphinx - Hodges#7803 (Sphinx vashti)

Species Sphinx vashti - Vashti Sphinx - Hodges#7803

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Internet References · Works Cited

Vashti Sphinx (Sphinx vashti) - Sphinx vashti

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Bombycoidea (Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths)

Family Sphingidae (Sphinx Moths)

Subfamily Sphinginae

Tribe Sphingini

Genus Sphinx

Species vashti (Vashti Sphinx - Hodges#7803)

Hodges Number

7803

Other Common Names

Snowberry Sphinx

Size

wingspan 68-94 mm

Identification

Adult: shoulder area extensively white; forewing gray with prominent black apical dash and sharp black subterminal line; hindwing black with sharp white bands; fringe not checkered

Larva: body green with seven pairs of lateral white oblique bands, bordered anteriorly with black; anal horn smooth, black

Range

western North America: Mantitoba to British Columbia, south to California, east to Texas

Habitat

mountain woodlands and prairie streamvalleys

Season

adults fly from May to July (1)

Food

larvae feed on snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.)

adults take nectar from honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) and columbine (Aquilegia spp.)

Life Cycle

one generation per year

Larva; pupa; adult

See Also

Elegant Sphinx (Sphinx perelegans) has less extensive white in shoulder area, less conspicuous apical dash, more white in subterminal area of forewing, and a checkered fringe on the hindwing

Internet References

Pacific Northwest Moths

Moth Photographers Group

iNaturalist

Sphingidae of the Americas - Bill Oehlke

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Works Cited

1.	Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 13 June, 2007 - 12:38am
Additional contributions by marcie oconnor
Last updated 28 February, 2024 - 3:27pm

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