Clark's Sphinx is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Sphingidae

Sphingidae

Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...

 family. It is known from British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and Washington south through California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, east to Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 and Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. The habitat consists of oak woodland and pine-oak woodland in foothills.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 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.

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

Salvia columbariae

Salvia columbariae is an annual plant of the Lamiaceae family. It is commonly called chia, golden chia and desert chia because its seeds are used in the same manner as Salvia hispanica . It grows in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Baja California and was formerly an important...

, Asclepias cordifolia

Asclepias cordifolia

Asclepias cordifolia is a species of milkweed commonly called Heart-leaf milkweed or Purple milkweed . It is native to the western United States , growing between elevation in the northern Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges...

, Ribes aureum

Ribes aureum

Ribes aureum Pursh is a species of small to medium-sized deciduous shrubs 2 to 3 meters tall in the genus Ribes...

, Dichelostemma capitatum

Dichelostemma capitatum

Dichelostemma capitatum , called Blue dicks, Purplehead and Brodiaea occur in Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.-Subspecies:...

, Clarkia

Clarkia

Clarkia is a genus within the flowering plant family Onagraceae. Over 40 species are currently classified in Clarkia; almost all are native to western North America, though one species is native to South America....

, Vicia

Vicia

Vicia is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants commonly known as vetches. It is in the legume family . Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other genera of their subfamily Faboideae also have names containing "vetch", for example the...

, Cirsium

Cirsium

Cirsium is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more accurately known as Plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera in having feathered hairs to their achenes...

and Stachys

Stachys

Stachys is one of the largest genera in the flowering plant family Lamiaceae. Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 300, to about 450. The type species for the genus is Stachys sylvatica. Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae...

species.

The larvae feed on Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia unguiculata is a species of wildflower known by the common name elegant clarkia. This plant is endemic to California, where it is found in many woodland habitats. Specifically it is common on the forest floor of many oak woodlands, along with typical understory wildflowers that include...

.

External links

• Clark's sphinx Butterflies and Moths of North America
• Proserpinus clarkiae Sphingidae of the Americas