Lapara coniferarum

Common Name(s): Southern Pine Sphinx

Ecology and Life History: This moth flies throughout the warm months, being active from May to October throughout most of its range. It may be found nearly year-round in the deep South. This species is highly attracted to light, both males and females will come to it. Males come to light with much more regularity. Bait is not an effective method of attracting this species. Males and females of this species are identically marked. Females tend to have rounder abdomens. Eggs are laid singly on the needles of pine trees. Larvae feed singly, and camouflage themselves quite well among the pine needles. Older larvae hide in clumps of needles with their head pointed inward to better hide themselves.

Habitat and Searching for Larvae: This is a moth that specializes on hard pines. Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) is a favorite in the Northeast. Larvae can be found virtually anywhere on a tree. I have personally collected larvae from the lowest boughs, all the way up to the highest parts of the tree. Most of the larvae encountered were on mid-height branches, that often stuck out farther than the surrounding boughs. Pine forests, barrens, edges, and other areas with significant amounts of hard pine are the preferred habitats in the northern part of its range. It becomes much more widespread as you progress down the east coast. Larvae can be found from June to November in the South, and from July through October in the North. The larvae fluoresces brightly under UV light.
Rearing Notes: Obtaining eggs can be achieved by placing a female in a paper bag. It is possible that a flight cage with cut host would also work. This species will feed on virtually any hard pine in captivity. Pinus rigida (Pitch Pine) has been used successfully. This species is fairly disease resistant. They can be reared together, so long as humidity is kept lower. They are tolerant of high humidity, but not for extended durations. Crowding of larvae is not an issue for this speices and many can be reared together. In tupperware, it is important to vent the containers daily. Sleeving is a great method for rearing this species, and multiple larvae can be reared together in the same sleeve. Removal of final instars is a good idea as they can be prone to dessication when pupating. Pupation is easy to achieve using the paper towel method (outlined in the general information tab) or by allowing larvae to bury themselves in a loose soil media.

Host plants:

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L5 (C) Teá Kesting-Handly

Adult description:
This is a fairly variable medium sized moth with forewings 28-40mm in length (2). The overall appearance of this moth is gray. There is brown on the lower edge of the forewing. In Lapara bombycoides, there is significantly less brown, or no brown on the lower edge of the forewing. This species tends to have minimal markings on the wings, with generally only one black streak in the middle of the forewing. In Lapara bombycoides, the forewings are usually well marked with brown and gray and it usually has two black lines. Along the gulf coast, this species can also be confused with Lapara phaeobrachycerous which is somewhat darker and generally less marked (2). Lapara phaeobrachycerous also has shorter antennae than this species (16).

Larval description:
L5: The larva is overall green in color and has multiple sets of white lines running down the entire length (from head to anal plate) with an orange head capsule. There are variable amounts of brown and red on the larva. The only difference between this species and Lapara bombycoides as larva are the presence of orange thoracic legs. This larva is identical to Lapara phaeobrachycerous the only difference being the spiracles. In Lapara coniferarum the spiracles are solid black, in Lapara phaeobrachycerous the spiracles are black with an orange center (1).

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