Moth Photographers Group – Sphinx poecila

Digital Guide to Moth Identification

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Sphingidae

890121 – 7810.1 Sphinx poecila Stephens, 1828

Northern Apple Sphinx

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Distribution:	Ranges from Newfoundland into the prairie provinces of Canada, and from Maine south into Pennsylvania, thence westward through Michigan, northern Illinois and Wisconsin. Overlaps in a portion of the northeast with Sphinx gordius.
Seasonality and Size:	One brood from May into September. Wingspan 68 - 95 mm.
Larva and Host Plants:	The larva has been found on a wide variety of food plants including larch, apple, blueberries, huckleberries, white spruce, sweetfern, Carolina rose, and alder. See previous page regarding larva.
Description/ Field Marks:	This is a variable species and, where their ranges overlap, is easily confused in photographs with Spinx gordius (Apple Sphinx). In well-marked specimens the fringes of the wings offer good clues to identification. In S. gordius the forewing fringes are mostly black with some white, and hindwing fringes are mostly white with some black patches. In S. poecila the forewing fringes are checkered black and white, while the hindwing fringes are almost totally white. See pinned specimens below.
Similar Species:	Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)
Synonymy:	poecila Stephens, 1828 (Sphinx) - MONA 1983: [NEW in Pohl & Nanz (eds.) (2023)] coxeyi Cadbury, 1931 (Sphinx) borealis Clark, 1920 (Sphinx)

References (Caution: DNA barcoding at BOLD provides evidence of relatedness, not proof of identification; some BOLD specimens shown may not be sequenced.)

Barcode of Life (BOLD)
Covell Field Guide p.35; Pl. 5 (merged in S. gordius without comment).
Species Page at Bill Oehlke's moth website - Sphinx poecila
Species Page at Block Island Moths
Species Page at BugGuide.Net
Species Page at E. H. Strickland Museum
Species Page at Mass Moths
Species Page at Pacific Northwest Moths
Species Page at iNaturalist
Tuttle, J. P., 2007. Hawk Moths of North America: p. 87; pl. 6.3, 6.
Wagner, D. L., (2005). Caterpillars of Eastern North America, p. 258 (merged in S. gordius).

Moth Photographers Group at the Mississippi Entomological Museum at the Mississippi State University

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