Lepidoptera: Sphingidae: Hyles lineata ( Fabricius, 1779) (White-Lined Sphinx)

White-Lined Sphinx also called the Striped Morning Sphinx, this one of our commonest moths. Its names refer to the broad oblique stripe running from the base to tip of the fore wing; the stripe is interrupted by numerous transverse white streaks. The hind wing is pink with black at the base and margins. During the summer, adults often may be caught at rest near the lights of storefronts, even in the metropolitan area. The moth is fair-sized, measuring 2 1/2 to 3 inches (65 to 75 mm) from wing tip to wing tip.

Photograph by C. Hogue

The large larva (length to 3 1/2 in., or 90 mm) comes in black as well as green color phases: the black version has a row of pale spots bordered above and below with black along its back; the green larva has three yellow lines on its back and broken black lines on its sides.

The caterpillars may literally swarm on desert vegetation in the spring. Like the larva of the Tobacco Hornworm, the caterpillar goes into the ground to pupate; the pupa lacks the "jug handle" of its relative, however, even though the adult has a fairly long tongue. The list of larval food plants is almost infinite; a common host in the city is fuchsia.

© 1993 Insects of the Los Angeles Basin