Azalea sphinx
Darapsa choerilus
The azalea sphinx is a hawk moth, a strong and fast-flying kind of moth. It lives in eastern North America. Its caterpillars eat azalea and viburnum bushes.
Lives in
The United States and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains
Wingspan
5.7 to 7.5 cm (2.2 to 3 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of azalea and viburnum.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 2.5 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 8.6 seconds
How big is Azalea sphinx compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
Azalea sphinx about 44 km/h (27 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its wings are about 6 to 7.5 centimetres from tip to tip.
2
It is named after one of the bushes its caterpillars eat, the azalea.
3
Scientists first described it in 1779.
you asked
Most asked questions about Azalea sphinx
?What does the azalea sphinx eat?
Its caterpillars eat azalea and viburnum leaves.
?How big is the azalea sphinx?
Its wings are about 6 to 7.5 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Darapsa choerilus
- Named by
- Cramer, 1779
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Darapsa choerilus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by unknown author. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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