DISTRIBUTION:

The Gemmed Sphinx Moth, Lintneria geminus (Wing span: 3 5/8 - 4 1/8 inches (9.2 - 10.5 cm)), flies from
Mexico: (Jalapa, Mexico, specimen type locality); to
Honduras ?? and
Nicaragua, with an occasional stray (questionable) into Texas.

Ian Kitching reports that L. istar, separatus, geminus, lugens and L. pseudostigmatica have all been confirmed from Michoacan, Mexico.

The upperside of the forewing is gray with wavy black and light gray bands and two small gray spots near the center of the costa. The upperside of the hindwing is black with two wavy white bands.

Sphinx geminus, Mexico, courtesy of Manuel Balcazar-Lara.

Until very recently (Tuttle: The Hawk Moths of North America, 2007), this moth was classified as Sphinx geminus. Tuttle also questions the accuracy of the few reports of strays into Texas.p>

FLIGHT TIMES:

Lintneria geminus adults probably fly as a single brood from July-August.

ECLOSION:

Pupae probably wiggle to surface from subterranean chambers just prior to eclosion.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen. Adults nectar at deep-throated flowers including Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), bouncing bet (Saponaria officinalis), petunia (Petunia species), and catalpa (Catalpa speciosa).

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Please visit my special request for images of Lintneria species larvae at Lintneria larvae, and help if you can.

It is anticipated that the Lintneria larvae will most often be encountered on Lamiaceae: Salvia (Sage), Mentha (Mints), Monarda (Beebalm) and Hyptis (Bushmints); Verbenaceae: Verbena and Lantana camara (shrub verbenas or lantanas).

Although they may be encountered feeding during daylight hours, one is even more likely to discover them feeding in the evening or after dark.

Two of the greatest clues for discovering larvae are stripped foliage and droppings beneath the plant. You might be quite surprised at what will turn up in the evening or after dark in a flashlight assisted search.

It is believed that all "Lintneria larvae will exhibit "a fleshy thoracic dorsal "horn" in the first 4 instars (unique in the Sphingidae of the world to my knowledge) which is replaced by a thoracic dorsal "hump" with a large black patch in the 5th instar." J.A. Tuttle.

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