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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

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Species Proserpinus lucidus - Pacific Green Sphinx Moth - Hodges#7872

Representative Images

yay! now i know spring is acomming.. - Proserpinus lucidus Pacific Green Sphinx Moth _ Proserpinus lucidus - Proserpinus lucidus 5th instar brown form Proserpinus lucidus larva - Proserpinus lucidus 4th instar brown form Proserpinus lucidus larva - Proserpinus lucidus Caterpillar (H. Lane) - Proserpinus lucidus Pacific Green Sphinx Moth - Proserpinus lucidus moth species - Proserpinus lucidus Pacific Green Sphinx Moth - Proserpinus lucidus - male
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 Macroglossinae
Tribe Macroglossini
Genus Proserpinus
Species lucidus (Pacific Green Sphinx Moth - Hodges#7872)

Hodges Number

7872

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

First described in 1852 by Jean Baptiste Boisduval as Arctonotus lucidus (see here).

Explanation of Names

The epithet lucidus is Latin for "clear, bright, shining".

Range

From Mexico through the Pacific Coast states to Washington and into Idaho.

Food

Larvae feed on plants in the Evening Primrose Family, Onagraceae, such as Camissonia, Clarkia, and Oenothera.

Life Cycle


male female

Print References

Boisduval, J.-A. (1852). Lepidoptères de la Californie. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, ser.2, v.10, p.319 (Full Text)
Comstock, J.A. & C. Henne (1942). The early stages of Arctonotus lucidus Bdv. (Lepidopt.). Bull. South. Calif. Acad. Sci. 41:167-171. (Full Text)
Osborne, K.H. (2000). Additional notes on Proserpinus clarkiae and Arctonotus lucidus (Sphingidae) life histories from the Pacific coast of North America. J. Lepid. Soc. 53(4):170-172. (Full Text).
Rubinoff, D. (2001). Observations of adult and larval behavior in the winter sphingid, Arctonotus lucidus (Sphingidae). J. Lepid. Soc. 55(2):78-79. (Full Text)
Rubinoff, D. (2009). Synonomization of the euphoniuous Arctonotus Boisduval, 1852 (Sphingidae: Macroglossinae) based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. J. Lepid. Soc. 63:233-235. (Full Text)

Internet References

Boisduval's original description of the genus and species can be read at this BHL link.