Jul 8, 2025
Bug of the Day
MAGNIFICENT CHONKBEAST
(laurel sphinx, Sphinx kalmiae)
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Singapore
seen from Latvia
seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Romania
seen from United States
seen from Mexico
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from Sweden
seen from United States
Bug of the Day
MAGNIFICENT CHONKBEAST
(laurel sphinx, Sphinx kalmiae)
Bug of the Day
Huge and amazing laurel sphinx caterpillar (Sphinx kalmiae) someone found while we were out mothing last weekend. LOOK. AT. THAT. BLUE. HORN. LOOK AT IT!!!!!!!!!
(id by @eumorpha-dream)
Bug of the Day
Ginormous laurel sphinx (Sphinx kalmiae) on the fencepost the other night! I think it knew it was blending right in ;-).
Bug of the Day - Bonus!
I’m having a crappy day, so here is a big fuzzy moth face to cheer me up.
Bug of the Day
Happy 13th anniversary to Bug of the Day!!! (Buggiversary???) Let’s celebrate with this most excellent Laurel Sphinx (Sphinx kalmiae). The big ones are so docile :-).
Bug of the Day - Mothvember!
The dark, inset eyes on this Laurel Sphinx (Sphinx kalmiae) give it a really ghostly look, don’t they?
I always assumed this moth used Mountain Laurel (Kalmia spp.) as a host plant, and it turns out that a lot of other people did too - according to bugguide.net, the specific epithet kalmiae led to the moth’s common name, even though it was actually named after the botanist Peter Kalm.
Bug of the Day
An elegant Laurel Sphinx (Sphinx kalmiae) that showed up at the light during the Sibley Farm Bioblitz last July.
Species Sphinx kalmiae - Laurel Sphinx moth - Hodges#7809
Beautiful moths.