Vine sphinx
Eumorpha vitis
The vine sphinx is a big hawk moth with wings wider than a grown-up's hand. It flies at dusk and drinks nectar from flowers with its long tongue. Its caterpillar loves grapevines.
Lives in
From Argentina north through Central America and Mexico to the southern United States
Wingspan
8.5 to 10 cm (3.3 to 4.1 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The moth drinks nectar from flowers like periwinkle. Its caterpillar eats the leaves of grapevines, Virginia creeper and magnolia.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
✋wings as wide as your hand⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 7.3 seconds
How big is Vine 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)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
Vine sphinx about 52 km/h (32 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
In the tropics the moths fly all year round.
2
Sometimes a lost vine sphinx strays as far north as Nebraska.
3
There are three slightly different kinds of it, living in different places such as Jamaica.
you asked
Most asked questions about Vine sphinx
?How big is the vine sphinx?
Its wings measure about 8.5 to 10.5 centimetres from tip to tip.
?What does the vine sphinx caterpillar eat?
Leaves of grapevines, Virginia creeper and a few other plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Eumorpha vitis
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- South America, North America
Where the facts come from
- Eumorpha vitis (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 pondhawk. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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