Proserpinus clarkiae

Proserpinus clarkiae, or Clark's sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1852. It is known from British Columbia and Washington south through California to Baja California, east to Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. The habitat consists of oak woodland and pine-oak woodland in foothills.

Clark's sphinx
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Proserpinus
Species:
P. clarkiae
Binomial name
Proserpinus clarkiae
Synonyms
  • Pterogon clarkiae Boisduval, 1852
  • Lepisesia victoria Grote, 1874

Description

The wingspan is 30–38 mm. The forewing underside basal orange colour is vestigial or absent. The hindwing upperside is pale orange or yellowish and the marginal band of the hindwing is black.

  • Female
  • Female underside
  • Male
  • Male underside

Biology

Adults are on wing from mid-March to June in one generation per year. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Salvia columbariae, Asclepias cordifolia, Ribes aureum, Dichelostemma capitatum, Clarkia, Vicia, Cirsium and Stachys species.

The larvae feed on Clarkia unguiculata.

References
  1. Boisduval, J.-A. (25 February 1852). "Lepidoptères de la Californie". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 10 (2): 319.
  2. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2011-10-25.


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