''Eumorpha achemon'', the Achemon sphinx, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as hornworms. It includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species ar ...

. The species was first described by

Dru Drury Dru Drury (4 February 1725 – 15 January 1804) was a British collector of natural history specimens and an entomologist. He received specimens collected from across the world through a network of ship's officers and collectors including Henry ...

in 1773.

Distribution

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 The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

, and

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

except

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 87–97 mm. It can be distinguished from all other ''

Eumorpha ''Eumorpha'' (meaning "well formed") is a genus of moths in the family Sphingidae. The genus is mostly found in North and South America. Species *''Eumorpha achemon'' (Dru Drury, Drury, 1773) *''Eumorpha adamsi'' (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Ro ...

'' species by the hindwing upperside being almost uniformly pale pink from the base to the diffuse, dark brown submarginal band. Eumorpha achemon MHNT CUT 2010 0 392, New Jersey, Newark, USA, male dorsal.jpg, ''Eumorpha achemon'' ♂ Eumorpha achemon MHNT CUT 2010 0 392, New Jersey, Newark, USA, male ventral.jpg, ''Eumorpha achemon'' ♂ △ Larvae are of three forms: light green, reddish orange, and tan to brown.

Biology

Adults are on wing from June to August in one generation in the northern part of the range. There are two generations with adults on wing from May to August in the south. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including ''

Lonicera japonica ''Lonicera japonica'', known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to East Asia, including many parts of China. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species i ...

'', ''Petunia'' × ''atkinsiana'', '' Philadelphus coronarius'', and ''

Phlox ''Phlox'' (; "flame"; plural "phlox" or "phloxes", ) is a genus of 68 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America (one in Siberia) in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open ...

'' species. It is one of five main

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

s of the rare orchid ''

Platanthera praeclara ''Platanthera praeclara'', known as the western prairie fringed orchid and the Great Plains white fringed orchid, is a rare and threatened species of orchid native to North America. Distribution Historically, ''Platanthera praeclara'' was found ...

''. They are known to feed on ''

Parthenocissus quinquefolia ''Parthenocissus quinquefolia'', commonly known as Virginia creeper, woodbine, five-leaved ivy, or five-finger, is a species of flowering vine in the grape family Vitaceae. The species is native to eastern and central North America, with its r ...

'' and '' Ampelopsis'' species. They are often found on wild and cultivated

Vitaceae The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as Vitis, grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). Th ...

, including

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

, and they can sometimes be found in

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s feeding on the leaves.

References

External links

*
"Moth Caterpillars Feeding on Virginia Creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia'')"
''Illinois Wildflowers''. Archived January 9, 2009. Eumorpha Moths described in 1773 Moths of North America Taxa named by Dru Drury {{Philampelini-stub