The Sphingidae of South Dakota

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

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.

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