Smerinthus jamaicensis

Twin-spotted sphinx
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Family:Sphingidae
Genus:Smerinthus
Species: S. jamaicensis
Binomial name
Smerinthus jamaicensis
(Drury, 1773)[1]
Synonyms
  • Sphinx jamaicensis Drury, 1773
  • Smerinthus geminatus Say, 1824
  • Calasymbolus jamaicensis tripartitus (Grote, 1886)
  • Smerinthus jamaicensis clarkii Franck, 1913
  • Smerinthus jamaicensis flavitincta (Nixon, 1912)
  • Smerinthus jamaicensis gamma Cockerell, 1925

Smerinthus jamaicensis (twin-spotted sphinx) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is widely distributed across North America and is found everywhere except in the southern half of western California. It has been taken as far north as the Yukon.[2]

It has a wingspan of 1​3⁄4–3​1⁄4 inches (4.5–8.3 cm), with the outer margins of the forewings unevenly scalloped, but with the coastal margin of hindwings being almost straight. Males have gray with black and white markings on their forewings, while females are yellowish brown with dark brown and white markings.

Both sexes have red hindwings with a pale yellow border. Sometimes a blue patch may appear as a single eyespot or it may be divided by black bands, creating two or three eyespots. Adult moths are nocturnal, but seem to prefer the earlier part hours of the night.

The larvae feed on Apple (Malus sylvestris), Prunus species (such as plums and peach), Ash (Fraxinus), Elm (Ulmus), Poplar (Populus), Birch (Betula) and Willow (Salix).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  2. ↑ "Silkmoths". Silkmoths.bizland.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  • Fullard, James H. & Napoleone, Nadia (2001): Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera. Animal Behaviour 62(2): 349–368. doi:10.1006/anbe.2001.1753 PDF fulltext


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