The Sphingidae of South Dakota


Amphion floridensis moth courtesy of Bill Oehlke.

Click on one of the Scientific names to see images and access information. N.B., the files are not linked back to this page. To return to this index, simply use your browser back button.

I suspect there remain quite a few species present but unlisted on this page. See Clay County list (accessed at bottom of this page).

Sphinginae subfamily

Sphingini tribe:

Ceratomia undulosa
Manduca quinquemaculata Tom Middagh
Sphinx vashti


Smerinthini Tribe:

Pachysphinx modesta
Pachysphinx occidentalis
Paonias myops
Smerinthus cerisyi
Smerinthus jamaicensis

Macroglossinae subfamily

Dilophonotini tribe:mm

Hemaris diffinis
Hemaris thysbe




Philampelini tribe:mm

Eumorpha achemon





Macroglossini tribe:

Amphion floridensis
Hyles euphorbiae Tom Middagh
Hyles gallii
Hyles lineata
Proserpinus juanita
Sphecodina abbottii T. Middagh

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Common Names

Waved Sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa)
Five-spotted hawkmoth (Manduca quinquemaculata)
Vashti sphinx (Sphinx vashti)

Modest sphinx (Pachysphinx modesta)
Big poplar sphinx (Pachysphinx occidentalis)
Small-eyed sphinx (Paonias myops)
One-eyed sphinx (Smerinthus cerisyi)
Twin-spotted Sphinx (Smerinthus jamaicenis)

Snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)
Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe)

Achemon Sphinx (Eumorpha achemon)

Nessus Sphinx (Amphion floridensis)
Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth (Hyles euphorbiae)
Bedstraw hawkmoth (Hyles gallii)
White-lined sphinx (Hyles lineata)
Juanita Sphinx (Proserpinus juanita)
Abbott's Sphinx (Sphecodina abbottii)

On July 25, 2006, I received this email note from Tom Middagh: "Thought you might be interested. Just got back from a little bug hunting in Vermillion, South Dakota, July 21 and 22, right on the Missouri River. We set up a light for a couple nights. I was surprised to see five Hyles euphorbiae come in and sit on the sheet. I thought they were gallium but different. When I got home, I had a chance to take a closer look at the specimens and IDed them as H. euphorbiae." Tom also reports the following recent Sphingidae sightings from Clay County:
M. quinquemaculata
S. abbottii (July 4, common)
S. jamaicensis
H. lineata

Hyles euphorbiae, courtesy of Tom Middagh.

In addition Tom has comfirmed many of the other species on the Clay County checklist accessed below.

Individual county checklists for south eastern South Dakota: Counties will be completed as sightings arrive. Currently only those in red are active.

Buffalo
Miner
Charles Mix
Turner

Jerauld
Lake
Douglas
Lincoln

Sanborn
Moody
Davison
Bon Homme

Brule
McCook
Hanson
Yankton

Aurora
Minnehaha
Hutchinson
Clay
Union

Smerinthus cerisyi reported Custer County, June 22, 2007, by Zana Goulding.