May 20th, 2006
a surprise in the forest
I’d been thinking of taking a break from posting over the long weekend, but couldn’t resist putting up these photos taken yesterday afternoon. My mother came out to the farm to visit for a couple of hours, so we went for a walk in the woods to see if the Long-eared Owl might be around. The owl must have been busy elsewhere, but we got a nice surprise in its place. While scanning the trunks of trees along the trail - something I do all of the time while looking for insects - I noticed something odd protruding from the bark of a poplar. At first, it looked like a big chunk of curled bark, but my “shape recognition” had already kicked into gear and I could “feel” the triangular shapes of moths, so I stepped closer to have a look. Sure enough, the bark turned out to be a mating pair of One-eyed Sphinx moths (Smerinthus cerisyi). They were large, the female (upper in the photo), being the larger of the two, both in wingspan, and with a considerably larger abdomen. Her wingspan was probably over 9 cm (approx. 3 1/2 inches).
The pair were entirely oblivious to my presence, so I shot quite a few photos. The time was about 2:30 p.m. After coming back indoors and downloading my camera, I checked the photos and decided that they could have been better, so I walked back to shoot more at about 4:00 p.m. The moths were still there, and were also there after 6 p.m. when Don and I went back to see them. Bill Oehlke, on his page on Smerinthus cerisyi, comments that pairs will mate until the following evening. I’ll probably wander back to the woods today to see if one or both of the moths are still around the tree. Covell’s Moths of Eastern North America states that the main foodplants of this species are Pear, Plum, Poplar and Willow trees. This pair was found in an area of abundant Poplar and Willow.
Edit: I sent these photos and info to Bill Oehlke to add to his Sphinx moth records and he has created a page for them along with some additional notes).
The One-eyed Sphinx is also known as Cerisy’s Sphinx, and the Eyed-Hawk-moth for the large bulls-eye marking on the rear pair of wings (not visible in my photos). Visit either Bill Oehlke’s page or the University of Alberta’s page to see photos with the rear wing exposed, and to read more about this species.
* Click on either of these photos to see a larger view.
Tags: One-eyed Sphinx, Cerisy’s Sphinx, Eyed-Hawk-moth, Smerinthus cerisyi
May 20th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
I’m a bit envious of all the beautiful moths you’re seeing over there Bev. I’ve missed out so far on seeing our big Marbled Wood Moths that emerge from the ground with the first autumn rains; they appear at the window at night with their eyes glowing ruby red. I’ve seen plenty of cases protruding from the ground out in the bush, but only one in the garden, keeping the fingers crossed though.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Duncan - well, you may envious us our moths, but probably not the millions of mosquitoes that we have to endure in order to go out looking for them! (-:
May 21st, 2006 at 4:42 pm
I also am taken by the moths you have there. Quite beautiful. I told dpr yesterday that I must not be serious enough about birding or wildlife, I wait for everything to come to our yard! I must get out more to see what’s flying about, or resting comfortably in the trees. Wonderful photographs, Bev.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:18 am
RA - I think that much of the reason that we see so many things here at our farm has to do with the habitat. Awhile ago, I wrote about how, when we came here, there were only 2 trees in the front 50 acres of the farm. This place is so different now as we’ve planted a lot of different species of trees and bushes over the years, and other things have just grown up on their own. The biodiversity of this site has changed greatly — plants, birds, mammals, amphibians, and especially invertebrates. The other factor is seeing things here is that I do spend quite a bit of time wandering around the farm and find something new every day.
June 15th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
I have a photo of two similar moths that I encountered just this past weekend on 6/10/06. They are on my garden gargoyle and are mating also. It was such a strange sight and they were so huge! Their wingspan was probably 4-5 inches. Now that I look closer at your pics (which I found while trying to identify my moths) I think they are another species. I like the idea of wandering about on my land and finding something new each day. We live in the woods near Duluth Minnesota and I’m always excited when I see something new to me. Thanks for posting your pictures and I’m thinking I’ll send mine to Bill Oehlke also.
June 16th, 2006 at 12:08 am
Hi Kelly - There are quite a few species of Sphinx moths, so your might well be another species. I’m sure that Bill Oehlke would be interested in your photos - especially if it’s a species that isn’t well represented with photos. He could also probably give you some idea of which species they are if you haven’t found an ID yet.