Fig sphinx
The fig sphinx is a big hawk moth with orange-brown wings. It lives in warm places from South America up to the southern tip of the United States. Its caterpillars grow up on fig trees.
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Fun facts
Its wings are about 11 to 14 centimetres from tip to tip, as wide as a grown-up's hand.
It helps the rare and endangered ghost orchid by carrying its pollen.
Its caterpillars come in several different colours.
The caterpillar turns into a pupa inside a cocoon among fallen leaves.
In warm places there are several families of these moths every year.
Most asked questions about Fig sphinx
?How big is the fig sphinx?
Its wings are about 11 to 14 centimetres across.
?What does the fig sphinx eat?
The moth drinks nectar. Its caterpillars eat fig leaves.
?Is the fig sphinx dangerous?
No. It is a harmless moth.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pachylia ficus
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- South America, North America
Where the facts come from
- Pachylia ficus (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 Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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