Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Species Lapara bombycoides - Northern Pine Sphinx - Hodges#7817

Northern Pine Sphinx - Lapara bombycoides Northern Pine Sphinx - Hodges#7817 - Lapara bombycoides Pine Sphinx - Lapara bombycoides Pine Sphinx - Lapara bombycoides northern pine sphinx - Lapara bombycoides Moth - Lapara bombycoides Green Striped Caterpillar, Grey Moth - Lapara bombycoides sphinx - Lapara bombycoides
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 Lapara
Species bombycoides (Northern Pine Sphinx - Hodges#7817)
Hodges Number
7817
Other Common Names
Sphinx du pin - En français… Ilze V-G.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Lapara bombycoides Walker, 1856
* phylogenetic sequence #227450
Explanation of Names
Species name bombycoides from Greek bomby silkmoth, silk; plus oide like, form (1).
Size
wingspan 45-60 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing gray with heavy black curved AM and zigzag PM lines bordered proximally by pale shading, and distally by dark shading; two or three black dashes in median area, and usually some brownish shading along inner margin near base; hindwing unmarked, brownish-gray, paler toward base

Larva: body green with 6 prominent pale yellow stripes, those below spiracles broader, whiter, and occasionally interrupted; dorsum, spiracular areas, and prolegs may be marked with reddish patches; head triangular, front often rusty-colored, and with yellow line running from antenna to crown; horn absent
[adapted from description by David Wagner and Valerie Giles]
Range
Alberta to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia, west to Minnesota (rare in southeastern states; US distribution map shows confirmed records from Florida but the species is not on the List of Florida Lepidoptera)
Habitat
coniferous and mixed forests; adults are nocturnal and come to light
Season
adults fly in June and July
larvae in August and September
Food
larvae feed on foliage of Red Pine (Pinus resinosa), Pitch Pine (P. rigida), Scots Pine (P. sylvestris), and Tamarack (Larix laricina)
Life Cycle
one generation per year; overwinters as a pupa in the soil
See Also
The more southerly Pine Sphinx (L. coniferarum) has thinner and less conspicuous lines on the forewing, often has more noticeable brownish shading along inner margin near base, and does not occur in Canada
Larvae are visually inseparable from larvae of the Pine Sphinx, according to C.T. Maier et al.
Print References
Hodges, R. W., 1971. Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 21. p. 75; pl. 6.3-4, 6.(2)
Borror, entries for bomby, oide (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.
live images of adults and larva plus description, distribution, biology, etc. (Bill Oehlke, silkmoths.bizland.com)
US distribution map plus description, flight season, larval foodplants, habitat (butterfliesandmoths.org)
live larva image plus description, foodplants, seasonality, life cycle (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests)
live larva image plus description, foodplants, biology, seasonality (C.T Maier et al, USDA Forest Service, forestpests.org)
pinned adult image (John Glaser, Maryland)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (CBIF)
Works Cited
1.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
2.The Moths of America North of Mexico Fascicle 21 Sphingidae
Ronald W. Hodges. 1971. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.