SPHINGICAMPA BICOLOR
SYSSPHINX BICOLOR (HARRIS, 1841)

Syssphinx bicolor = Sphingicampa bicolor

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelcom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802 Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834 Subfamily: Ceratocampinae, Harris, 1841 was Syssphinginae: Packard, 1905 Genus: Syssphinx, Hubner [1819] 1816

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DISTRIBUTON:

Sphingicampa bicolor or Syssphinx bicolor (wingspan 47-67 mm; males smaller than females) is North America's most widely distributed Sphingicampa ranging on the East Coast from New Jersey to Georgia westward to eastern Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Populations are also found in Mexico and in southern Ontario, Canada. The common name is the Bicolored Honey Locust Moth.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Syssphinx bicolor moths are on the wing from April with second and third broods following throughout the summer. Larval development is very irregular resulting in moths being taken throughout the summer into September. Honey locust and Kentucky coffee tree are popular host plants.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Syssphinx bicolor moths tend to eclose in the evening with scenting and mating occuring the same night between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am.

The species mates readily in captivity, even in small cages.

OVA, LARVAE, COCOONS, AND PUPAE:

Bicolored Honey Locust Moth females deposit light green ova either singly or in pairs on hostplant foliage. Warm weather results in a very short incubation time of five days. Some larvae mature (55 mm) in under three weeks while others from the same batch progress much less rapidly. Image courtesy of Leroy Simon displays the enlarged thoracic scoli typical of Syssphinx. Silver, metallic markings reflect light at night.

Larvae seem relatively disease free and this is an easy species to rear in captivity.

Pupation is in shallow chambers under the soil with eclosions following in as little as two weeks.

Larval Food Plants

Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants listed in Stephen E. Stone's Foodplants of World Saturniidae. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Gleditsia triacanthos.... Gymnocladus candensis Gymnocladus dioica Hymenaea altissima Ligustrum Quercus Robinia pseudoacacia

Honeylocust Coffee tree Kentucky coffee tree Locust Privet Oak Black locust/false acacia

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