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Laurel Sphinx moth larva

Sphinx kalmiae

Description:

Caterpillars feed on Apple (Malus), sweetfern (Myrica), Carolina rose (Rosa carolina), blueberry and huckleberry (Vaccinium), white spruce (Picea glauca), American larch (Larix laricina), and alder (Alnus). Caterpillars pupate in burrows in soft soil.

Notes:

Me and my son found two of these while on an adventure walk yesterday out in our back 40. We now have 9 different larvae species we are observing. I find it very exciting.

9 Comments

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 5 years ago

Hi Sclark73! We've been informed that this is not Sphinx poecila, but Sphinx kalmiae. This is shown by the caterpillar's posterior "horn", which is blue with tiny black spines and can be seen in your third image. I will change the ID for you and add a reference.

Sclark73
Sclark73 11 years ago

Thank you YangXia

YangXia
YangXia 11 years ago

beautiful color, very cute~

Sclark73
Sclark73 11 years ago

Thank you tibiprada and Nina you are right they do. You would think the moth form would be just as vibrant but nope.

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

very nice job !

Nina C. Wilde
Nina C. Wilde 11 years ago

Sclark, I can see all three photos. The sphinx moths have the coolest looking caterpillars, don't they?

Wild Things
Wild Things 11 years ago

Very pretty! You will have to reload the other pics again.

Sclark73
Sclark73 11 years ago

Thank you Atul, for some reason only one is showing. I uploaded 3.

Atul
Atul 11 years ago

Stunning Pic!

Sclark73
Spotted by
Sclark73

Wisconsin, USA

Spotted on Jun 26, 2012
Submitted on Jun 27, 2012

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