InsectNet forum

Different variations in the sphinx moth cerisyi.
The top 2 are from the eastern part of the state.
The bottom one was captured as a larva last season here at my house
on the coast. I found the larva depicted a few days ago on
the willow ,interesting since I have never had a sphinx come
to my uv light here at home.

Nice specimens, nice genus. Thanks for posting.

Is the variation clinal? I wonder if anyone has looked into the genetics to see if they should be different subspecies?

eurytides wrote: Thu Sep 07, 2023 10:21 pm Is the variation clinal? I wonder if anyone has looked into the genetics to see if they should be different subspecies?

The amount of variability in cerisyi is mentioned in Tuttle's Hawk Moths of North America having caused different forms to be named.
He sticks with just the one type. It's easy to see how a variable species could end up with endless forms and sub-species. I'm
hoping the new larva I found will turn out female and I can try luring next season, as well as seeing if the adult will turn out the
light brown color, this one gave itself away pooping on the picnic table.

kevinkk wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 11:32 pm interesting since I have never had a sphinx come
to my uv light here at home.

I am shocked you have never had the ubiquitous Hyles lineata, are they very uncommon where you live?

Oh boy did you open a can of worms for me!




First, I was sure I had a number of cerisyi I'd collected, but see above. Given that I spent two weeks last winter re-collating my collection they should all be together. So now I have to go figure out where the others are.

And, it surely looks like the middle one above is Smerinthus jamaicensis so it doesn't belong there. Neither of the other two were captured by me. So where are mine?????

I wasn't entirely accurate about my sphinx captures at home. Several years ago, I caught a few Hyles lineata nectaring in very early spring,
I think one even found it's way into the greenhouse and expired. I've never seen any others since then. Never at the light though.

Chuck! That looks like my photo! I have a few sphinx with just collection data... Sphinx chersis,vashti,and perelegans all look similar.

If you want to tell S. chersis from vashti from perelegans you don’t even need to look at the wings. You can just look at the markings on the thorax. You might also get S. drupiferarum in Oregon which looks a bit like perelegans. S. sequoiae is also present, but it is tiny compared to the others.

kevinkk wrote: Fri Sep 08, 2023 3:26 pm

Chuck! That looks like my photo! I have a few sphinx with just collection data... Sphinx chersis,vashti,and perelegans all look similar.

I rarely bother to put name labels on anything; so many of those I did 40+ years ago are now wrong.

I can tell you that Paonias excaecatus is EXTREMELY variable, from light to dark, from tan to grey to include much purple. Smerinthus jamaicansis is less variable than excaecatus, but still has significant variation from tan to dark grey.

I made the post after finding that larva a few days ago, and realized how different my various specimens looked. Having a larva is a big help,
as they are not variable and what I have found at home is clearly cerisyi. I did find that the larva is visible under uv light, which gives me something to
think about after dark-

Not to get too far off topic, but here are the 4 Sphinx side-by-side for comparison:
Top - S. vashti
2nd - S. chersis
3rd - S. perelegans
4th - S. drupiferarum