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Species Sphecodina abbottii - Abbott's Sphinx - Hodges#7870

Abbott's Sphinx - Sphecodina abbottii Abbott's Sphinx - Sphecodina abbottii Moth help? - Sphecodina abbottii Abbott's Sphinx - Sphecodina abbottii Moth - Abbott's Sphinx - Hodges#7870 - Dorsal head - Sphecodina abbottii - female Abbott's Sphinx? - Sphecodina abbottii - male Sphingidae: Sphecodina abbottii - Sphecodina abbottii Sphingidae: Sphecodina abbottii - Sphecodina abbottii
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
No Taxon (Moths)
Superfamily Bombycoidea
Family Sphingidae (Sphinx Moths)
Subfamily Macroglossinae
Tribe Macroglossini
Genus Sphecodina
Species abbottii (Abbott's Sphinx - Hodges#7870)
Hodges Number
7870
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Sphecodina abbottii (Swainson, 1821)
Explanation of Names
Named for the pioneering naturalist and illustrator, John Abbott (1751-1840).
Size
Wingspan 51-70 mm

Larva to 75 mm
Identification
Short body and cryptic wings distinctive. Hindwings have a yellow "flash pattern".



Larvae start out green with a horn on the final segment. Middle instar larvae are whitish to blue-green with dark faint cross-stripes and the horn replaced by an orange raised knob on the last segment (A8). The last instars may be either brown with a "wood-grain" pattern or brown with ten pale green saddles along the back. In these late instars the knob resembles an eye.

Range
Eastern and central North America: Maine to Florida, west to Minnesota, Kansas, Texas.
Habitat
Edges of woodlands, presumably.
Season
February-August with two flights in deep south (e.g., Louisiana). May-June in much of range, with one flight.
Food
Adults take nectar. Male is reported to fly around dusk, female to fly near midnight.
Larvae feed on Grape, Vitis and Ampelopsis.
Print References
Covell p. 42, plate 6 (1)
Salsbury, p. 327--photo of adult (2)
Wagner, p. 16--photo larva (3)
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
By Charles V. Covell
2.Insects in Kansas
By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White
3.Caterpillars of Eastern Forests
By David L. Wagner, Valerie Giles, Richard C. Reardon, Michael L. McManus