Page 453 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Sphingidae
DISTRIBUTION North and South America, from southern Canada to
northern Argentina, and the Caribbean
HABITAT Variety of habitats, including deserts and gardens
HOST PLANTS Many, including apple (Malus spp.), Amaranthus spp.,
beets (Beta spp.), Brassica rapa, Lettuce (Lactuca sativa),
and Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
NOTE Polyphagous, abundant caterpillars formerly harvested
by Native Americans for food
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common

ADULT WINGSPAN
2 ⁄ –3½ in (62–90 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
3–4 in (76–100 mm)
HYLES LINEATA
WHITE-LINED SPHINX 451

(FABRICIUS, 1775)

White-lined Sphinx caterpillars can be extremely abundant;
sometimes thousands are observed crawling on the ground in
areas like the Arizona desert. The caterpillars are well adapted
to a variety of habitats, being both polyphagous and also
able to tolerate a remarkably wide range of temperatures—up
to around 113°F (45°C)—changing their orientation on the
host plant toward or away from a heat source to maintain a
constant internal temperature. Mature larvae pupate in shallow
burrows in the soil; adults eclose after two or three weeks and y

both by day and at dusk, hovering over owers while drinking

nectar. The species develops and breeds between February and
November, producing two or more generations annually.

Native Americans from the southwest United States consumed
the caterpillars as food. In 1884, the entomologist William The White-lined Sphinx caterpillar is often
Greenwood Wright (1830–1912), writing in the magazine mostly black in color, with some white and
orange spots and broken yellow lateral lines.
Overland Monthly, described how Cahuilla people harvested While it is shaped like other sphinx moth larvae,
the larvae in early spring, sometimes eating them raw, although its coloration can be very variable, often green
with two rows of subdorsal eyespots, one on
most were roasted over hot coals and stored. Hyles lineata each segment, connected by a black line. The
legs are orange, the prolegs are orange or green,
used to be considered the same species as H. livornica—a very the posterior horn is orange and black, and the
similar species from the Old World—but its separate identity is head is orange or green.
now well established.

Actual size