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Photo#14517
Abbott's Sphinx - Sphecodina abbottii

Abbott's Sphinx - Sphecodina abbottii
Hwy 55 and Sedwick, Durham County, North Carolina, USA
April 4, 2005
Size: 25 mm body length
Found at a light about 11:00 p.m., captured. This is probably a female, based on thin antennae. Covell, (1) reports that female flies in middle of night, male at dusk. Chilling did no good, this individual buzzed around at refrigerator temperatures. I released it near my porch light and it buzzed around for several minutes. It finally came to rest on the flower shown and I was able to get photos in a natural pose. It rested there until morning and flew off at dawn. This photo shows it just about to fly off, with antennae out--they were normally hidden while at rest.

Photographed adjacent to scale. Body length approximately 25 mm. Wingspan in a natural position was about 44 mm, approximately 60 mm, perhaps, if forewings were spread completely.