Manduca sexta sexta
man-DOO-kuhmm Sex-tuh
Butler, 1877
The Carolina Sphinx

Manduca sexta sexta, Corona, California, August 25, 2007,
courtesy of Ted and Sonia Abahazi.

Ted and Sonia write, "I came across your website after looking for a reference for these large moths that appeared above our front door. They just hung out there for two days and then left. They left on the night we forgot to leave the porch light on... Don't know if that means anything.... Big moths with yellow spots down each side of the body...... Is this the Manduca sexta moth you show on your website...? Never seen a moth this big before...

They showed up in Corona, California, on August 25th & 26th and stayed a while...."

The moths would have been attracted to the lights and then mesmerized by them. Turning the lights off "broke the spell" and allowed the moths to resume flight at night.

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