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Species Lapara coniferarum - Southern Pine Sphinx - Hodges#7816

Mystery caterpillar - Lapara coniferarum Moth 09.08.02 (2) - Lapara coniferarum Southern Pine Sphinx  - Lapara coniferarum Lapara coniferarum Southern Pine Sphinx? - Lapara coniferarum Lapara coniferarum? - Lapara coniferarum ?Hawk moth - Lapara coniferarum Lapara coniferarum
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 coniferarum (Southern Pine Sphinx - Hodges#7816)
Hodges Number
7816
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Lapara coniferarum (J. E. Smith, 1797)
Explanation of Names
Lapara is Greek for "flank"; coniferarum is Latin for "of conifers"
Size
Wingspan 50-57 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing gray with two black dashes (sometimes one or three) in median area, and brown or reddish-brown shading along inner margin near base; lines thin and inconspicuous, PM line blackish, zigzagged, with whitish or pale gray shading proximally; hindwing gray, unmarked, paler toward base

Larva: head green with vertical yellow strip down face; body green with fine yellowish or white speckling; purplish-brown dorsal strip bordered by yellowish stripe on each side; yellowish subdorsal stripe, and white lateral stripe below spiracles; horn absent
Range
eastern United States: Maine and New York to Florida, west to Louisiana, north to Missouri and Illinois; does not occur in Canada
Habitat
coniferous and mixed forests containing pine
Season
adult fly year-round in Florida; March to October in Louisiana; April to September in coastal South Carolina; June to August farther north
Food
larvae feed on foliage of pine, especially Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) and Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) in the south, and other pine species in the north
Life Cycle
several generations per year in Florida; two generations in South Carolina; one generation per year farther north
See Also
adult Northern Pine Sphinx (Lapara bombycoides) has heavier and more distinct black lines on forewing, and usually less noticeable brown or reddish-brown shading along inner margin near base of wing. Larva is visually inseparable from larva of Northern Pine Sphinx, according to C.T. Maier et al
along Gulf Coast, especially Louisiana, (and perhaps east to Georgia, South Carolina) the recently-described Gulf pine sphinx, Lapara phaeobrachycerous
Print References
Covell, p. 36, plate 5 #10 (1)
Internet References
pinned adult image by Paul Opler, plus common name reference [Southern Pine Sphinx], US distribution map, description, habitat, flight season, foodplants, life cycles (butterfliesandmoths.org)
pinned adult image by John Glaser, plus date (Larry Line, Maryland)
live larva image covered with eggs of the parasitic Braconid wasp, Cotesia congregata (Gerald Lenhard, forestryimages.org)
live larva image of Northern Pine Sphinx (Lapara bombycoides) plus description and other info (David Wagner and Valerie Giles, Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, USGS)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.