Winter-flight
Guides
Proserpinus lucidus
Pacific green sphinx, bear sphinx
Proserpinus lucidus is a small sphinx moth native to the Pacific coast of North America. Adults are active in winter from December to April, during which they do not feed. The species exhibits unusual seasonal timing among North American sphinx moths, with adults emerging and mating during the coldest months. Larvae feed on specific evening primrose relatives in the genera Clarkia and Camissonia, and possess a distinctive "bullseye" spot in place of the typical horn found in most sphinx moth caterpillars.
Pyrausta dapalis
Pyrausta dapalis is a small crambid moth described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1881. Adults are active during winter months in western North America, with flight records from January through March. The species has been reared on Salvia species, indicating a larval association with this plant genus. Like other Pyrausta species, it is part of the snout moth group characterized by elongated labial palps.