Moths and Butterflies of North Carolina
Sphinx Moths
The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera), commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths, and hornworms; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species are found in every region. They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid, sustained flying ability. Their narrow wings and streamlined abdomens are ...more ↓
Pandorus Sphinx Moth
The Pandora sphinx moth (Eumorpha pandorus), also called the Pandorus Sphinx Moth, is a North American moth in the Sphingidae family. It is a large, greenish gray moth with darker patches and pink edges and small pink eyespots. The underside is usually pale yellow-green or brown. It has a wingspan of 3¼–4½ inches (8.2–11.5 cm), females being slightly larger than males. ...more ↓
Luna Moth
Actias luna, commonly known as the Luna Moth, is a lime-green, Nearctic Saturniid moth in the family Saturniidae, subfamily Saturniinae. It has a wingspan of up to 114mm (4.5 inches), making it one of the largest moths in North America.
Polyphemus Moth
The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) is a North American member of the family Saturniidae, the giant silk moths. It is a tan colored moth, with an average wingspan of 15 cm (6 inches). The most notable feature of the moth is its large, purplish eyespots on its two hindwings. The eye spots are where it gets its name – from the Greek myth of the Cyclops Polyphemus. ...more ↓
Rosy Maple Moth
The Rosy Maple Moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) is a North American moth in the Saturniidae family. Males have a wingspan of 32–44 mm; females of 40–50 mm. They have reddish-to-pink legs and antennae, yellow bodies and hindwings, and pink forewings with a triangular yellow band across the middle. Males have bushier antennae than females. As the name implies, rosy maple moths mainly ...more ↓
Spotted Apatelodes
Apatelodes torrefacta, or Spotted Apatelodes, is a species of moth in the Bombycidae or Apatelodidae (if this family is considered valid) family. It is found from Maine and southern Ontario to Florida, west to Texas, and north to Wisconsin.
Yellowstriped Oakworm
The Yellowstriped Oakworm (Anisota peigleri) is a moth of the Saturniidae family. It is found from south-eastern Kentucky, south-western Virginia, eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina south through western South Carolina and central Georgia into north-central Florida.
White-lined Sphinx Moth
The White-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. Its range extends from Central America, through the United States and into parts of Canada.
Blinded Sphinx Moth
The Blinded Sphinx (Paonias excaecatus) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and across the rest of Canada all the way to British Columbia. In the United States it ranges south to Florida in the east, and westward to eastern California and as far south as central Texas.
Tulip-tree Silkmoth
The Tuliptree Silkmoth or Giant Silkmoth (Callosamia angulifera) is a moth of the Saturniidae family. It is found from Massachusetts east through central New York, southern Ontario, and southern Michigan to central Illinois, south to the Florida panhandle and Mississippi.
Anisota
Anisota is a genus of moths in the Saturniidae family. Their caterpillars are known commonly as oakworms. They are defoliators of oaks.
Tobacco Hornworm
Manduca sexta is a moth of the family Sphingidae present through much of the American continent. Commonly known as the tobacco hornworm and the goliath worm, it is closely related to and often confused with the very similar tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata); the larvae of both feed on the foliage of various plants of the family Solanaceae. The ...more ↓
Snowberry Clearwing Moth
The Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis) is a moth of the order Lepidoptera, family Sphingidae.
Tersa Sphinx
The Tersa Sphinx (Xylophanes tersa) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from the United States (Massachusetts south to southern Florida, west to Nebraska, New Mexico and southern Arizona), through Mexico, the West Indies and Central America and into parts of South America (including Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil). An occasional stray can be found as far ...more ↓
Callosamia securifera
The Sweetbay Silkmoth (Callosamia securifera) is a saturniid in the genus Callosamia. It was named after the host tree, Magnolia virginiana.
Regal Moth
The regal moth (Citheronia regalis), also called the royal walnut moth, is a North American moth in the saturniidae family. The caterpillars are called hickory horned devils. The adult (Imago) has a wingspan of 3.75-6.1 in (9.5-15.5 cm).
Imperial Moth
The Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) is a Nearctic member of the family Saturniidae and subfamily Ceratocampinae.
Enyo lugubris
The Mournful sphinx (Enyo lugubris) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from Argentina and Paraguay to Uruguay, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and the West Indies through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Mexico and the United States, where it has been recorded from Arizona east ...more ↓
Waved Sphinx Moth
The Waved Sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in the United States, and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains.
Io Moth
The Io Moth (Automeris io) is a very colorful North American moth in the Saturniidae family. It ranges from the southeast corner of Manitoba and in the southern extremes of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick in Canada, and in the US it is found from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, east of those states and down to the ...more ↓
Hummingbird Clearwing
Hemaris thysbe, commonly known as the Hummingbird Clearwing, is a moth of the Sphingidae family. Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside. Its wings are transparent with a reddish brown border. It has light colored legs, which combined with its lack of striping ...more ↓
Walnut Sphinx Moth
The Walnut Sphinx (Amorpha juglandis) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is native to North America, where it is distributed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the United States.
Elm Sphinx Moth
The Elm sphinx, (Ceratomia amyntor), sometimes called the Four-horned Sphinx, is a North American species of moth in the Sphingidae family. It has a wingspan of 3¼ - 4½ inches (8.2 - 11.5 cm). As the name suggests, the larvae (caterpillars) feed on elm trees (Ulmus), but they can also be found feeding on birch (Betula), basswood (Tilia), and cherry ...more ↓
Hemaris gracilis
The Slender Clearwing or Graceful Clearwing (Hemaris gracilis) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from Nova Scotia to central Florida along the East Coast and west through New England to Michigan to Saskatchewan.
laurel sphinx
The Laurel Sphinx (Sphinx kalmiae) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in the temperate parts of the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains, in the north it occurs west of the Rocky Mountains.
Virginia Creeper Sphinx Moth
The Virginia creeper sphinx (Darapsa myron) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It lives from Maine south to south Florida; west to North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas. It also can be found in Mexico.
Tomato Hornworm
The five-spotted hawkmoth (Manduca quinquemaculata) is a brown and gray hawk moth of the Sphingidae family. The caterpillar, often referred to as the tomato hornworm, can be a major pest in gardens. Tomato hornworms are closely related to (and sometimes confused with) the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). This confusion arises because caterpillars of both species ...more ↓
Pink-spotted Hawkmoth
The Pink-spotted Hawkmoth or Sweetpotato Hornworm (Agrius cingulata syn. A. cingulatus) is a species of moth in the Sphingidae family.
pine tree sphinx
The Northern Pine Sphinx (Lapara bobycoides) is a member of the Sphingidae family of moths. It is known from mixed and coniferous forest in southern Canada (Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) as well as north-eastern Alberta and central Saskatchewan. In the eastern half of the United States it is found from extreme north-eastern North ...more ↓
Buck Moth
The Buck Moth (Hemileuca maia) is a common insect found in oak forests, stretching in the United States from the south east to the north east and as far west as Texas and Kansas. The larvae typically emerge in a single generation in the spring. The larvae are covered in hollow spines that are attached to a poison sac. The poison can cause symptoms ranging from itching and ...more ↓
Achemon Sphinx
The Achemon sphinx (Eumorpha achemon) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is native to North America, where it is known from most of the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. It is rare or absent in the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin, and Southeastern United States except Florida.
Rustic Sphinx
The Rustic Sphinx (Manduca rustica) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in the southern parts of the United States (straying into the northern United States at times), southward through Mexico, Central America and South America to Uruguay.
Great Ash Sphinx
The Great Ash Sphinx or Northern Ash Sphinx (Sphinx chersis) is a moth that belongs to the family Sphingidae.
Banded Sphinx
The Banded Sphinx Moth (Eumorpha fasciatus) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, north through Central America (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to southern California and southern Arizona, east to Texas, Mississippi, Florida and South ...more ↓
azalea sphinx moth
The Azalea Sphinx (Darapsa choerilus) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in the United States and southern Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.
Abbott's Sphinx
Abbott's sphinx (Sphecodina abbottii) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It lives in eastern North America.
Twin-spotted sphinx
The Twin-spotted Sphinx (Smerinthus jamaicensis) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. 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.
Pawpaw Sphinx
The Pawpaw Sphinx (Dolba hyloeus) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It ranges throughout the eastern United States from Maine south to Florida, and west to Wisconsin, eastern Oklahoma, and southern Texas.
Lapara coniferarum
The Southern Pine Sphinx (Lapara coniferarum) is a species of sphinx moth. It is known from mixed and pine forests from Nova Scotia and Maine south to Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana.
Ash Sphinx
The Ash Sphinx (Manduca jasminearum) is a member of the Sphingidae family of moths. It ranges from east of the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean, being common in the Northeast United States.
Modest Sphinx
The Modest Sphinx or Poplar Sphinx (Pachysphinx modesta) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It ranges from the southern United States up and throughout Canada.
Small-eyed Sphinx
The Small-eyed Sphinx (Paonias myops) is a species of moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from south-eastern Canada to Florida and westward almost to the Pacific Coast. It is also known from Mexico.
Wild Cherry Sphinx
The Wild Cherry Sphinx (Sphinx drupiferarum) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from the temperate parts of the United States to southern Canada.
Deidamia inscriptum
The Lettered Sphinx (Deidamia inscriptum) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is the only member of the Deidamia genus. It is found from Florida to Mississippi, and in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ontario, Quebec and South Carolina.
Huckleberry Sphinx Moth
The Huckleberry Sphinx (Paonias astylus) is a moth in the family Sphingidae. It is found in eastern North America, from Maine south to Florida, west to Missouri and Mississippi.
Sphinx gordius
The Apple Sphinx (Sphinx gordius) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in the northern parts of the United States and southern Canada, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains, additionally it is found along the east coast to Florida and in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado.
Darapsa versicolor
The Hydrangea sphinx (Darapsa versicolor) is a member of the Sphingidae family that inhabits eastern North America, often in wetlands.
Isoparce cupressi
The Baldcypress Sphinx or Cypress Sphinx (Isoparce cupressi) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in Cypress swamps in from Maryland to Texas. It has been reported from Mexico.
Eumorpha intermedia
The Intermediate Sphinx (Eumorpha intermedia) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It lives in North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Texas....
Lintneria eremitus
The Hermit Sphinx (Lintneria eremitus) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in the temperate areas of the eastern United States, north into southern Canada over the Great Plains. It prefers gardens and yards, but is common wherever the nectar and larval host plants are found. This moth is easily confused with the Canadian Sphinx (Sphinx canadensis) but these ...more ↓
Sphingicampa bicolor
The Honey Locust Moth (Syssphinx bicolor) is a North American moth in the family Saturniidae.
Sphinx franckii
Franck's Sphinx Moth (Sphinx franckii) is a moth in the family Sphingidae. It is known from lowland deciduous woodland in the eastern United States but also suburban areas where Lilacs (Syringa species) are planted, ranging from New York to northern Florida east to Missouri and Louisiana.
