Photographs What Kind of Moth is This?

[Biblereader]

I saw this moth today.
It looks unusual, with the pieces "cut out" from it's wings,
and it looks streamlined, like it's built for speed.

Do you know what kind of moth it is, and what it eats?

 

[Relic]

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Wow! Nice pic! Did you catch this moth, or is it a frequent visitor on your property?



It is a Tersa sphinx moth (Xylophanes tersa)

Family: Sphinx Moths, Hawkmoths (Sphingidae)

Subfamily: Macroglossinae (Macroglossinae)

Identification: Forewing upperside is pale brown with lavender-gray at the base and dark brown lengthwise lines throughout. Hindwing upperside is dark brown with a band of whitish wedge-shaped marks.

Life history: Adults begin feeding at sunset.

Flight: . One brood in the north from May-October, several broods in Florida and Louisiana from February-November.

Wing span: 2 3/8 - 3 1/8 inches (6 - 8 cm).

Caterpillar hosts: Smooth buttonplant (Spermacoce glabra), starclusters (Pentas species), Borreria, Catalpa, and Manettia species.

Adult food: Nectar from flowers including honeysuckle (Lonicera).

For more infor on this brood click the following link, it's a great web site for looking up butterflies and moths:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3472



Thanks for sharing that wonderful photo! I love botony, birds, butterflies and insects that aren't too gross. :fadein:

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