Introducing: Sphinx gordius and Sphinx poecila 

I wanted to take a moment to highlight the different phenotypes we see in the larvae of these species, and also show what the adults look like! This pair of species is really beautiful, and I hope these images show case that! The larvae of these species cannot be identified without genetic barcoding, so the images below are not yet IDed to species.

 

Typical green form larva.

 

Green form larva with black lines above the purple and white.

 

Purple form larva.

Aren't the larvae beautiful? They can be quite common too! Check plants like BayBerry (Myrica), Sweetfern (Comptonia), Blueberry (Vaccinium), and Meadowsweet (Spirea).

Onto the adults! Before I show images of them, I wanted to talk about the historical ID markers used to separate Sphinx gordius and Sphinx poecila. The main difference, was in the submarginal area. In Sphinx gordius, this area is thought to be darker than the rest of the wing, and in Sphinx poecila, it is thought to be the same color. It is possible that these marks could still hold up after this study, but it is likely that they will need some adjusting.

With that being said, here are the two phenotypes of adults, each labeled with the species they "should" be according to the guidelines above.

 

Historically, this moth would have been called Sphinx gordius due to the darker submarginal area

 

Historically, this moth would've been called Sphinx poecila due to the submarginal area being the same shade as the rest of the wing.