Ceratomia undulosa

Ceratomia undulosa, the waved sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae, the sphinx or hawk moths. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1856. It is found in the United States and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, and two subspecies are recognised: the nominate form, which ranges from Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia west to eastern Alberta and from Maine and Florida west to the eastern Great Plains and south to the Gulf Coast and Texas, and Ceratomia undulosa polingi, described by Clark in 1929, which occurs in Mexico. The adults are strictly nocturnal and hide away as dawn approaches. The larvae feed on ash, privet, oak, hawthorn and fringe tree, and when ready to pupate they dig underground. The moth is also known as the scorpion moth, a name that comes from the mistaken belief that the moths give birth to scorpions, when in fact the Guiana striped scorpion, the most common predator, simply feeds on the moth egg clusters and is often found near the egg-laying female.