Family Sphingidae

Diagnosis: fws narrowed, media stem absent; hw with veins Sc+R and Rs connected by a cross-vein above discal cell; abdomen extends for at least ½ its length beyond hws.

Diversity: Worldwide three subfamilies, 200 genera and 1,200 species; North America has 42 genera and 125 species; 37 species have been recorded from the Dakotas.

Checklist numbers: 7771- 7894.

Biology: Larvae are external leaf feeders, most species possess a caudal horn. Pupae are formed in leaf litter or underground. Adults are mostly crepuscular or diurnal (some nocturnal, matinal) and can be seen hovering, like hummingbirds, at tubular flowers. A few species have the second segment of the labial palpus fluid-filled and sensory bristles of the pilifer in contact with the palpus, register high frequency sound as vibration. This is thought to be a non-directional 'bat detector.' A few species of minor economic importance: Tomato/Tobacco hornworms, Achemon sphinx, White-lined sphinx.

Identification key to the Sphingidae of North Dakota

Further reading:

D’Abrera, Bernard. 1986. Sphingidae Mundi. Hawkmoths of the world. E. W. Classey Ltd. Faringdon, UK. 226 pp.

Forbes, William T. M. Family 45. Sphingidae, pp. 176- 202 in, Ibid. 1923. Lepidoptera of New York and neighboring states. Part II. Geometridae, Notodontidae, Sphingidae, Lymantriidae. Cornell Agric. Exp. Sta. Mem. 274: 263 pp.

Fors, Mary F. 1981. A checklist of North Dakota Sphingidae. Utahensis 1(3): 1-8.

Hodges, Ronald W. 1971. Fascicle 21 Sphingoidea in Dominick et al. The moths of America north of Mexico. E. W. Classey Ltd. London. 158 pp.

Kitching, Ian J. and Jean-Marie Cadiou. 2000. Hawkmoths of the world. An annotated and illustrated revisionary checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Mus. Natr. Hist. London. 226 pp.

Lemaire, Claude and Joël Minet. Chapter 18. The Bombycoidea and their relatives, pp. 321- 353 in Kristensen, Neils P. ed. 1999. Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies. Part 35, Vol. 1 in Handbook of Zoology. Maximilian Fischer ed. Walter de Gryter, New York. 491 pp.

Riotte, J. Charles E. 1980. Sphinx poecila, a valid North America hawkmoth species (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Great Lakes Entomol. 13(3): 115-130.

Scoble, Malcom J. 1992. The Higher Ditrysia, Chapter 12, pp. 290- 341 in The Lepidoptera: form, function, and diversity. Oxford Univ. press. 1982. 404 pp.

Selman, Charles L. 1975. A pictorial key to the hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of eastern United States (except Florida). Ohio Biol. Surv. Biol. note 9: 31 pp.

Smith, Michael J. 1993. Moths of western North America. 1. Distribution of Sphingidae of western North America. Contrib. C. P. Gilbert Mus. Colorado State Univ. Fort Collins, Colorado. 27 pp.