Eumorpha fasciatus

Common Name(s): Lesser Vine Sphinx;
Banded Sphinx
Ecology/Life History Overview: This moth is on the wing in the summer months, but can be found year-round in more southern locales. While this species doesn’t often breed in places with prolonged frost, it does frequently inhabit such locales as an adult or even larvae in the fall. It is not uncommon to find larvae in MD, NJ, and New England and vagrant adults are collected with some frequency each year in these places. This moth quickly populates many areas during summer months, and can be encountered as larvae throughout the South and most of the Mississippi Valley.

Habitat/Searching for Larvae: This can be a surprisingly common sphingid, especially in swamps and coastal areas of the South. The larvae are most associated with Ludwigia which often grows as a weed in roadside drainage ditches. Larvae don’t usually leave the plant, and can be found fairly quickly by examining the lower branches first, then making your way inward and upward, searching the bottoms of the stems. The larger larvae tend to sit in the denser parts of the plant, emerging at night to feed. Some Ludwigia species grow much denser and bushier, making searching trickier. Don’t think that just because a plant is mostly underwater that it won’t yield caterpillars, final instars of this species have been spotted swimming to shore from plants that are just barely above water. The larvae do glow slightly under UV light, making them easier to spot.

Rearing Notes: Larvae are easy to rear in captivity and do well on cut hostplant. Ludwigia holds in water quite well and will keep for a few days in a sealed container. Larvae grow significantly larger when reared on potted hostplant, and as such, this method is often better. Ludwigia grows extremely easily indoors, and does like to have about an inch of water at the bottom of the pot. The larvae do need to be kept in a rather moist environment to pupate successfully, paper towel works quite well. The pupae will emerge in 3-4 weeks if kept in a warm area. Adults eclose just after dusk, and are fairly inactive until the next evening.

Adult description: A medium sized sphingid, with each forewing measuring about 44-49mm in length (2). It closely resembles Eumorpha vitis. Tuttle notes the best way to separate the two species is to examine the hindwing, in E. fasciatus, the hindwing has a pink outer margin, whereas in E. vitis only the anal angle of the hindwing is pink (2). Another quick separator is the costal edge of the forewing, which is light brown in this species and remains the same as the ground color in E. vitis. The forewings of this moth are quite well patterned. The base color is a dark brown. It has several thick lighter brown lines running through it and several veins on the outer wing margin are outlined in this light brown color as well.

Larval Description:
L1: A small green hornworm with a large horn.
L3: At this stage, the larva has a black and red horn that curves slightly. The body is green, and the spiracles may be surrounded by bright red splotches.
L4: The fourth instar larva displays immense variation. The base color can be green, red, pink, yellow, or multi-colored. In all forms, the caudal horn is entirely reduced, or is a small nub in some cases. The green form often has red and white splotches surrounding the spiracles. In other color morphs, these areas surrounding the spiracles may be white. The multi-colored forms are bright, flashy, and don’t seem to have a discernible pattern like the other forms.
L5: One of the most highly variable larvae in the United States and perhaps the world. It can range in color from green or multicolored. The body of this larva is uniform in girth, unlike other Eumorpha spp. which often have enlarged abdominal segments. The caudal horn is gone, and there may just be a tiny point in its place. The multi-colored form larva have red thoracic legs, and a black and red head capsule. The green form may have white splotches surrounding the spiracles.

Host Plants:

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The gallery to the left contains photos of Eumorpha fasciatus adults. If you have a photo that you would like to submit to us, please contact us.

The gallery to the right contains photos of Eumorpha fasciatus larval and pupal stages. If you have a photo that you would like to submit to us, please contact us.