Huckleberry sphinx facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Huckleberry sphinx |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Sphingidae |
| Genus: | Paonias |
| Species: |
P. astylus
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| Binomial name | |
| Paonias astylus (Drury, 1773)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Huckleberry Sphinx (scientific name: Paonias astylus) is a special kind of moth. It belongs to a group of moths called the Sphingidae family. A scientist named Dru Drury first officially described this moth in 1773. You can find the Huckleberry Sphinx moth in eastern North America. It lives from Maine in the north, all the way down to Florida in the south. It also spreads west to Missouri and Mississippi.
Contents
About the Huckleberry Sphinx Moth
The Huckleberry Sphinx moth is known for its interesting appearance. Its wingspan can be between 55 and 65 millimeters. That's about 2.2 to 2.6 inches wide. This is roughly the length of a typical house key.
Life Cycle and Habits
Adult Huckleberry Sphinx moths are active at different times of the year. In warmer places like Florida, you might see them flying from March to June. They can appear again in September. This means they have two groups of offspring, called "generations," in a single year.
Further north, where it's colder, they usually have only one generation. Adults in these northern areas are typically seen flying in July. Interestingly, adult Huckleberry Sphinx moths do not eat. They rely on the energy they stored as larvae.
What the Larvae Eat
The young moths, called larvae or caterpillars, are the ones that do all the eating. They munch on the leaves of several plants. Their favorite foods include blueberry plants and other plants from the Vaccinium family. This includes plants like V. vacillans and V. corymbosum.
They also enjoy leaves from Prunus plants, which include cherries and plums. Other plants they eat are Andromeda and Salix (willow trees).
Images for kids
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Paonias astylus ♂
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Paonias astylus ♂ △
 | William L. Dawson |
 | W. E. B. Du Bois |
 | Harry Belafonte |
