Eumorpha fasciatus

Eumorpha fasciatus, the banded sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae, first described by Johann Heinrich Sulzer in 1776. It ranges from northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru north through Central America and Mexico to southern California and southern Arizona, and east to Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina, with strays reaching as far north as Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and Nova Scotia. It is also found in the Caribbean. Adults fly year round in the tropics, while in the north there are at least two generations a year, with adults on the wing from late May to July and from late August to October in South Carolina. Adults have been recorded feeding on the nectar of Crinum, Catharanthus roseus, Petunia and Saponaria officinalis. The larvae feed on Ludwigia species, Cissus verticillata, Fuchsia hybrida, Magnolia virginiana, Parthenocissus and Vitis, vary greatly in pattern and depth of color, and pupate in burrows. Two subspecies are listed, including Eumorpha fasciatus tupaci from the Galapagos Islands.