Blinded sphinx
The blinded sphinx is a large hawk moth that flies at night. It is a strong flier with a wingspan wider than a grown-up's hand. Its green caterpillar, called a hornworm, has a little horn at its back end.
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Fun facts
The grown-up moths never eat. They live only to find a mate and lay eggs.
The small greenish yellow eggs hatch after about 8 days.
When the caterpillar is ready, it digs a little way into the soil to turn into a pupa.
It likes to fly late at night, after a short busy time just after dusk.
Most asked questions about Blinded sphinx
?What does the blinded sphinx eat?
The moth does not eat at all. The caterpillar eats leaves of willow, birch, cherry and roses.
?Is the blinded sphinx dangerous?
No. It is a harmless moth, and its caterpillar's horn cannot sting.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Paonias excaecata
- Named by
- J. E. Smith, 1797
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Paonias excaecatus (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 Mike Boone. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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