SPHINGIDAE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Sphinx  gordius

Cramer, 1780

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Common Name(s): Apple Sphinx

Ecology and Life History: This moth is active from May through July over most of its range. Both sexes are attracted to light, and good numbers will come in to a light when setup in the right habitat. Bait is not an effective method of attracting this moth. Both sexes of this species look identical. Males do tend to be slightly smaller, and their abdomens are thin, and come to a distinctive point. Females are slightly larger, and have a rounded abdomen that has a dull point, making them easier to identify which sex is which. Eggs are laid on the leaves of hostplants, usually on the underside. Young larvae feed on the undersides of leaves. Older larvae will hide on the stems and branches of plants, ascending to the leaves at night to feed.

Habitat and Searching for Larvae: This species will eat a number of plants. Most commonly, Vaccinium and Comptonia in the Northeast. Larvae can be found virtually anywhere on the plant. Younger instars are most commonly found in the middle of the plant, on branches that stick out, feeding on the undersides of the leaves. Older larvae tend to hide deeper in the plant, not being as conspicuous. This is a moth of numerous habitats. We have recorded this species in Pine Barrens, Woodland Edges, Wetlands, Fens, and Fields. It does not seem to be a species that thrives in urban areas or near people. Larvae are reliably found from August to October in the Northeast. In the South, this species can be found from June to October. UV light is a great way of finding the larvae of this species as they fluoresce brightly.

Rearing Notes: This species will readily lay eggs in captivity. Placing a female in a paper bag or styrofoam cooler will yield many eggs. Alternatively, placing a female in a flight cage with a potted hostplant is also a good way to get eggs. This species does well on a number of hostplants. In captivity, Vaccinium has been used to great success as it holds extremely well when cut. Comptonia or Malus may also be used, but both tend to wilt if left out of water or low humidity. This species can often succumb to diseases in captivity. It is not unheard of to lose an entire clutch to a viral or bacterial pathogen. Crowding this species is a good way to introduce lots of diseases into your clutch. We recommend rearing larvae in small quantities in tupperware, or slightly larger quantities in a screen enclosure. Larvae do not tolerate excess humidity well, and will die quickly when exposed to high levels of humidity. Sleeving is an excellent method of rearing this species. You do not need to worry about humidity levels, and crowding becomes less of an issue. When rearing larvae in a sleeve, keep only a moderate amount of larvae together as disease is still a worry. Pupation can be achieved by using the paper towel method (outlined in the general information tab), or by providing final instar larvae with a loose soil media.

Host plants:
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Picture
(C) Teá Montagna
Picture
L5 (C) Teá Montagna
Picture
Adult description:
This is a medium sized (33-42mm forewing) moth (1). This species is often confused with Sphinx poecila. The general appearance of these two species is gray with black markings. There may or may not be a white discal spot. The separating feature for these two species is that Sphinx gordius has a darker than ground color submarginal area. In Sphinx poecila this area is generally the same color as the ground color of the wings. Another general note is that Sphinx gordius is generally a black and white moth whereas Sphinx poecila tends to be more grayscale. Please note, there is information about determination of these species via the wing fringes on the hindwing, this does not hold true and shouldn’t be used.

Larval description:
L5: This species can be green or brown/black in color. There are 7 white lines on the abdominal segments. Superficially this larva can look like Sphinx poecila. Tuttle notes that the major difference is that Sphinx gordius has purple bordering the white abdominal lines. The head capsule is green with two black lines.
The gallery to the left contains photos of Sphinx gordius 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 Sphinx gordius larval and pupal stages. If you have a photo that you would like to submit to us, please contact us.
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Maya Shikhman
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
(C) Teá Montagna
L5 UV (C) Stephen Kloiber
L5 UV (C) Stephen Kloiber
L5 (C) Jon Mularczyk
L5 (C) Jon Mularczyk
L5 (C) Tom Murray
L5 - (C) Teá Montagna
L5 - (C) Teá Montagna
L5 - (C) Teá Montagna
L5 (C) Teá Montagna
L5 (C) Teá Montagna
L4 (C) Teá Montagna
L5 (C) Teá Montagna
L5 (C) Teá Montagna

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Macroglossinae

Aellopos clavipes
Aellopos fadus
Aellopos tantalus
Aellopos titan
Amphion floridensis
Cautethia grotei
Callionima falcifera
Callionima parce
Darapsa choerilus
Darapsa myron
Darapsa versicolor
Deidemia inscriptum
Enyo lugubris
Enyo ocypete
Erinnyis alope
Erinnyis crameri
Erinnyis ello
Erinnyis guttularis
Erinnyis lassauxii
Erinnyis oenotrus
Erinnyis obscura
Eumorpha achemon
Eumorpha fasciatus
Eumorpha intermedia
Eumorpha labruscae
Eumorpha pandorus
Eumorpha satellitia
Eumorpha vitis
Eumorpha typhon
Eupyrrhoglossum sagra​
Hemaris diffinis
Hemaris gracilis
Hemaris thysbe
Hyles euphorbiae
Hyles gallii
Hyles lineata
Madoryx pseudothyreus
Pachylioides resumens
Pachylia ficus
Perigonia lusca
Phryxus caicus
Proserpinus flavofasciata
Proserpinus gaurae
Proserpinus lucidus
Pseudosphinx tetrio
Sphecodina abbottii
Xylophanes falco
Xylophanes pluto
Xylophanes libya
Xylophanes porcus
Xylophanes tersa

Smerinthinae

Protambulyx strigilis
Amorpha juglandis
Pachysphinx modesta
Pachysphinx occidentalis
Paonias astylus
Paonias excaecata
Paonias myops
Smerinthus cerisyi
Smerinthus jamaicensis

Sphinginae

Agrius cingulata
Ceratomia amyntor
Ceratomia catalpae
Ceratomia hageni
Ceratomia undulosa
Cocytius antaeus
Cocytius duponchel
Dolba hyloeus
Isoparce cupressi
Lapara bombycoides
Lapara coniferarum
Lintneria istar
Lintneria separatus
Lintneria eremitus
Manduca jasminearum
Manduca occulta
Manduca brontes cubensis
Manduca florestan
Manduca muscosa
Manduca quinquemaculatus
Manduca rustica
Manduca sexta
Neococytius cluentius
Paratrea plebeja
Sphinx canadensis
Sphinx chersis
Sphinx dollii
Sphinx drupiferarum
Sphinx frankii
Sphinx gordius
Sphinx kalmiae
Sphinx leucophaeata
Sphinx luscitiosa
Sphinx pinastri
Sphinx poecila 
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  • Home
  • Sphingidae Index
    • Macroglossinae >
      • Aellopos >
        • Aellopos clavipes
        • Aellopos fadus
        • Aellopos tantalus
        • Aellopos titan
      • Amphion >
        • Amphion floridensis
      • Callionima >
        • Callionima falcifera
        • Callionima parce
      • Cautethia >
        • Cautethia grotei
      • Darapsa >
        • Darapsa versicolor
        • Darapsa myron
        • Darapsa choerilus
      • Deidamia >
        • Deidamia inscriptum
      • Enyo >
        • Enyo lugubris
        • Enyo ocypete
      • Erinnyis >
        • Erinnyis alope
        • Erinnyis crameri
        • Erinnyis ello
        • Erinnyis guttularis
        • Erinnyis lassauxii
        • Erinnyis oenotrus
        • Erinnyis obscura
      • Eumorpha >
        • Eumorpha pandorus
        • Eumorpha achemon
        • Eumorpha fasciatus
        • Eumorpha satellitia
        • Eumorpha labruscae
        • Eumorpha intermedia
        • Eumorpha vitis
        • Eumorpha typhon
      • Eupyrrhoglossum >
        • Eupyrrhoglossum sagra
      • Hemaris >
        • Hemaris thysbe
        • Hemaris gracilis
        • Hemaris diffinis
        • Hemaris aethra
      • Hyles >
        • Hyles gallii
        • Hyles euphorbiae
        • Hyles lineata
      • Madoryx >
        • Madoryx pseudothyreus
      • Pachylioides >
        • Pachylioides resumens
      • Pachylia >
        • Pachylia ficus
      • Phryxus >
        • Phryxus caicus
      • Perigonia >
        • Perigonia lusca
      • Proserpinus >
        • Proserpinus flavofasciata
        • Proserpinus gaurae
        • Proserpinus lucidus
        • Proserpinus terlooii
      • Pseudosphinx >
        • Pseudosphinx tetrio
      • Sphecodina >
        • Sphecodina abbottii
      • Xylophanes >
        • Xylophanes falco
        • Xylophanes libya
        • Xylophanes pluto
        • Xylophanes porcus
        • Xylophanes tersa
    • Smerinthinae >
      • Amorpha >
        • Amorpha juglandis
      • Pachysphinx >
        • Pachysphinx modesta
        • Pachysphinx occidentalis
      • Paonias >
        • Paonias excaecata
        • Paonias myops
        • Paonias astylus
      • Protambulyx >
        • Protambulyx strigilis
      • Smerinthus >
        • Smerinthus jamaicensis
        • Smerinthus cerisyi
    • Sphinginae >
      • Agrius >
        • Agrius cingulata
      • Ceratomia >
        • Ceratomia amyntor
        • Ceratomia hageni
        • Ceratomia undulosa
        • Ceratomia catalpae
      • Cocytius >
        • Cocytius antaeus
        • Cocytius duponchel
      • Dolba >
        • Dolba hyloeus
      • Isoparce >
        • Isoparce cupressi
      • Lapara >
        • Lapara coniferarum
        • Lapara bombycoides
      • Lintneria >
        • Lintneria eremitus
        • Lintneria istar
        • Lintneria separatus
      • Manduca >
        • Manduca brontes cubensis
        • Manduca jasminearum
        • Manduca muscosa
        • Manduca occulta
        • Manduca florestan
        • Manduca quinquemaculatus
        • Manduca rustica
        • Manduca sexta
      • Neococytius >
        • Neococytius cluentius
      • Paratrea >
        • Paratrea plebeja
      • Sphinx >
        • Sphinx canadensis
        • Sphinx chersis
        • Sphinx dollii
        • Sphinx drupiferarum
        • Sphinx franckii
        • Sphinx gordius
        • Sphinx kalmiae
        • Sphinx leucophaeata
        • Sphinx luscitiosa
        • Sphinx poecila
        • Sphinx pinastri
  • Final Instar Larva Key
  • Hostplant Index
  • Parasitoids and Predators
  • Range
  • General Information
  • Sources and Acknowledgements
  • Other Resources
    • Sphingidae Publication Library
  • Store
  • Donations