Ceratomia amyntor

Ceratomia amyntor, the elm sphinx or four-horned sphinx, is a North American moth in the hawk moth family Sphingidae, first described by Carl Geyer in 1835. The wingspan is about 8 to 11.5 centimetres. It ranges from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and western North Dakota and Colorado, and south to Florida, the Gulf Coast, Texas and New Mexico. Caterpillars feed mainly on elm and also on birch, basswood and cherry, and occur in a green and a dark brown phase; they carry four long horn-like projections above the head as well as the usual tail horn, which gives the moth its second name. Before pupating they burrow into the soil, and the pupa may overwinter there. There is one brood in the north and several further south.