Species Ceratomia hageni - Hagen's Sphinx - Hodges#7790

7790

Osage Orange Sphinx

Ceratomia hageni Grote(1), 1874

Patronym for Hermann August Hagen (1817-1893), a German entomologist who, at the invitation of Louis Agassiz, emigrated to Cambridge, MA in 1867 to become an assistant in entomology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. There he developed the department of entomology at Harvard, and in 1870 was made professor of that science, being the first professor of entomology in an American university.

Wingspan 80-92 mm. (2)

Grote (1874) original description is online in the print references.

Adult: forewing gray with green to yellowish-green tinge. Pale gray patches at apex and midway along costa. Lines zigzag. Elongate dark patch through center of wing. Lacks whitish tint along costa near base. Hindwing with extensive dark brown or blackish shading except at base and near anal angle; not banded. Prothorax gray in center, and dark along edges.

Adult specimen determined by DNA analysis (BOLD). (3)

Texas to Georgia, Nebraska to Michigan and Ohio - Map - MPG (4)

Franklin (1972) stated "This species should be looked for wherever osage orange occurs."

The main flight period appears to be May to September. (4)

Larvae feed on leaves of Osage Orange - Maclura pomifera (Moraceae)

Adults take nectar from a variety of flowers.

The adults fly at dusk and come to light.

Elm Sphinx (Ceratomia amyntor) forewing has whitish tint along costa near base, shows more contrast between dark and pale areas, and usually lacks greenish tinge; hindwing distinctly banded

Waved Sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa) forewing lacks obvious pale patches at apex and midway along costa, lacks elongate dark patch through center of wing, and lacks green tinge; hindwing banded

(compare images of all 3 species by Jim Vargo at MPG)

Covell Jr., C.V., 2005. Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. Virginia Museum of Natural History, p. 34; pl. 4, fig. 3. (2)

Franklin, C.M., 1972. New distribution records for Ceratomia hageni (Sphingidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 26(3), p. 198. PDF

Grote, A.R., 1874. Notes on American Lepidoptera with descriptions of twenty-one new species. Bulletin of the Buffalo Societyof Natural Sciences, p. 149.

Hodges, R.W., 1971. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 21. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation Inc., p. 47; pl. 2, fig. 11. (5)

Salsbury, G.A. & S.C. White, 2000. Insects in Kansas. Kansas Dept. of Agriculture. , p. 324. (6)

Tuttle, J.P., 2007. The Hawk Moths of North America. he Wedge Entomological Research Foundation Inc., p. 68; pl. 9, fig. 12. (7)

Moth Photographers Group (4)

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) (8)

Bill Oehlke's species page

The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (3)