Pachysphinx modesta

Pachysphinx modesta, the modest sphinx or poplar sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Thaddeus William Harris in 1839.

Modest sphinx
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Pachysphinx
Species:	P. modesta
Binomial name
Pachysphinx modesta (Harris, 1839)[1]
Synonyms
Smerinthus modesta Harris, 1839 Smerinthus populicola Boisduval, 1875 Smerinthus princeps Walker, 1856 Smerinthus cablei von Reizenstein, 1881 Pachysphinx modesta borealis Clark, 1929

Gallery

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  Male, dorsal view
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  Male, ventral view
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  Female, dorsal view
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  Female, ventral view
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  Larva

Distribution

It ranges from the southern United States up and throughout Canada.^[2]

Biology

Adults are on the wing from mid-June to mid-July in Canada. In the northern part of the range, there is a single generation, with adults active from May to July. Further south, there may be two generations per year.

The larvae feed on species of poplar, willow, and cottonwood.