Blinded Sphinx

Appearance

Adult: forewing various shades of brown with conspicuously scalloped outer margin; fringe white, composed of thin arcs in sinuses between scallops; median area may have purplish tint, and subterminal area may have greenish tint; hindwing brown in upper half, pink in lower half; large black spot near inner margin has small central blue spot with no black spot inside it.

Larva: body green or yellowish-green, heavily granulose, and with dense white speckles; oblique yellow line extends from base of proleg on A6 to dorsal horn on A8; six oblique yellow lines from A2-A6; white spiracles with black rim; occasionally red spots near spiracles and prolegs; horn somewhat arched below, extending to end of body; head triangular with line of whitened granulose spots running to vertex.

Naming

Paonias excaecata (J. E. Smith, 1797)

Sometimes misspelled "exaecatus," probably repeating a mistake in Covell's plate in the first edition, corrected in the second (2005) edition.

Distribution

All of the United States' Lower 48 and southern Canada. Also Mexico.

Habitat

Open deciduous forests, woodland edges, clearings, shrubby areas, gardens; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light

Reproduction

The eggs are greenish-yellow and small. Hornworms hatch after about 8 days. Primary food sources for the larvae are deciduous trees such as willows, birch and cherries, as well as shrubberies. Like the rest of the Sphingidae family, they shallowly burrow into soil to pupate. Once they leave their pupa, the adults almost immediately mate. Adults do not feed.

Food

Larvae feed on leaves of a variety of deciduous trees and shrubs, including apple, basswood, birch, cherry, elm, Hardhack (Spiraea douglasii), hawthorn, Hop Hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatum), Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor), poplar, rose, serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), willow.
Adults do not feed