Tersa Sphinx Moth (Xylophanes tersa)

Order: Lepidoptera (le-pid-OP-ter-a) (Info) Family: Sphingidae (SFIN-gi-dee) (Info) Genus: Xylophanes (zy-LOF-ah-nees) (Info) Species: tersa (TER-sa) (Info) Profile: 6 positives No neutrals 1 negative Regional... This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: Hartford, Alabama Vincent, Alabama Altamonte Springs, Florida Bayonet Point, Florida Bayshore Gardens, Florida Cape Coral, Florida Crestview, Florida Frostproof, Florida Gotha, Florida Lake City, Florida Lutz, Florida Palm Shores, Florida Pembroke Pines, Florida Kennesaw, Georgia Ringgold, Georgia Oak Park, Indiana Benton, Kentucky Coushatta, Louisiana Maclain, Mississippi Verona, Mississippi Roswell, New Mexico Mooresville, North Carolina Fruit Hill, Ohio Murrells Inlet, South Carolina Greenbrier, Tennessee Collinsville, Texas Doyle, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Houston, Texas Jacksonville, Texas Laredo, Texas Linden, Texas Missouri City, Texas Muniz, Texas Roman Forest, Texas Rowlett, Texas Spring, Texas Watauga, Texas Norfolk, Virginia Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Positive tajataja On Oct 4, 2006, tajataja from Lake City, FL (Zone 8a) wrote: This evening I was outside taking pictures of my angles trumpets and these moths were all over the flowers, going up in them. WOW I got a picture.... Negative aprilwillis On Oct 25, 2006, aprilwillis from Missouri City, TX (Zone 9a) wrote: Amazingly interesting cat for such a boring looking adult moth- unfortunately sphinx moths do a lot of damage to ornamentals. Positive TexasPuddyPrint On Nov 12, 2006, TexasPuddyPrint from Edinburg, TX wrote: I added a photo of both a brown and green tersa sphinx cat. They are good looking cats :o) Our local butterfly parks plant plenty of nectaring and larval host plants so it's always nice to see their efforts paying off :o) One of the local nurseries calls me up periodically - seems their customers come in with jars of 'worms' they find eating their plants and want to know how to kill them! Am always puzzled why folks want butterflies in their yard then complain about the 'worms' - it's called the cycle of life. It's a good thing the guys at the nursery just about have me on speed-dial :o) They call me up and I go collect the caterpillars to raise and release them in my yard. Will say Tersa cats are voracious eaters and they can strip penta plants to the stem...but the pentas always come back with new foliage :o) And for all those who raise and release butterflies and moths...we know to always have plenty of the larval host plants on hand :o) Positive debnes_dfw_tx On Apr 27, 2008, debnes_dfw_tx from Fort Worth, TX (Zone 8a) wrote: This is some very cool garden character. Sure they do "damage", lol... It's called sustenance! Every caterpillar requires a host plant in order to become a butterfly or moth. The main favorite of the Tersa is Penta, and they are actually quite picky. The cats can always be moved out of the main "show" garden to some potted plants in a less visible location. These are very fun cats to raise, especially if there are any children around to track the stages with. Their cartoonish faces are way too cute not to love!! When they are ready to pupate they will crawl down into the leaf litter below the plant. This pupa can be collected to await it's emergence. That will generally happen sometime after midnight on about day 10-12. Like the majority of moths, the Tersa Sphinx Moth is nocturnal. They can usually be observed nectaring/pollinating the deep flowers right after dusk. Pollinating such deep flowers makes them a very beneficial character in the garden. Positive crickett1142 On Aug 15, 2009, crickett1142 from Jeffersonville, IN wrote: I found a yellow one on my rose bush. as not knowing what they was, we came here to see if we could fine one. Positive LoveForests On Mar 1, 2010, LoveForests from Clearwater, FL (Zone 10a) wrote: Was sitting outside one late night. They like to rest near an outdoor light on the house. I went to pet his wing while he was resting on the ground and he turned around, started to vibrate his wings real fast and it sounded like a Bee sound, then I got up and moved away slowly and he started to walk after me, following my every move, lol. So I decided to get away from him and go back indoors for the night. Positive Milly10 On Feb 8, 2012, Milly10 from Altamonte Springs, FL wrote: About a month ago, while weeding around the edges of my lawn, I found a chrysalis of what turned out to be the tersa sphinx. I was surprised to find it just laying in the grass and assumed it must have blown off a tree or bush. I now know that these moths pupate underground or under leaf debris. A day later, perhaps I wouldn't have found it! I waited patiently for a month with the chrysalis in a glass jar. Finally, two days ago the color changed to a darker brown and this morning the moth eclosed--while I was away from my desk, of course. It was a wonderful experience and several of my coworkers were just as excited as I was to watch its wings dry and its full color appear. When its wings were working, we took the moth outside and released it.

By princessnonie By tajataja By tajataja By aprilwillis By aprilwillis By melody By TexasPuddyPrint There are a total of 35 photos. Click here to view them all!