Detailed information on Tersa Sphinx Moth (Xylophanes tersa)

m

mcrousse

Holly Springs, NC (Zone 7b) | January 2021 | Neutral

Zone 7b NC here.

Every year, we get this species on our Manettia cordifolia plants. I don\'t mind a few of them, but if their numbers aren\'t thinned out (manual removal), they completely decimate the plant. My local birds don\'t seem to to be interested in eating them. They even crawled into our garage as a last instar caterpillar and pupated there next to the wall.

J

JoyganicGardens

Largo, FL (Zone 9a) | February 2016 | Positive

I discovered these beauties a couple days ago and every day I go and check in the flower bush to see if they are there and admire them. Every day i discover another one. So far I have found a total of 5 of them in 3 different color markings (2 photos of them have been uploaded into the database). I am so fascinated by these cats! Flowers here are grown for the purpose of attracting our wildlife critters such as bees and butterflies, so we certainly don't mind them getting their grub on here. I'm new to the tampa bay area of florida so these were an awesome find to me. I discovered their adult moth form last summer so it is even more exciting to me to see them in their cat form :)

M

Milly10

Altamonte Springs, FL | February 2012 | Positive

About a month ago, while weeding around the edges of my lawn, I found a chrysalis of what turned out to be the tersa sphinx. I was surprised to find it just laying in the grass and assumed it must have blown off a tree or bush. I now know that these moths pupate underground or under leaf debris. A day later, perhaps I wouldn't have found it!
I waited patiently for a month with the chrysalis in a glass jar. Finally, two days ago the color changed to a darker brown and this morning the moth eclosed--while I was away from my desk, of course. It was a wonderful experience and several of my coworkers were just as excited as I was to watch its wings dry and its full color appear. When its wings were working, we took the moth outside and released it.

L

LoveForests

(Zone 9b) | March 2010 | Positive

Was sitting outside one late night. They like to rest near an outdoor light on the house. I went to pet his wing while he was resting on the ground and he turned around, started to vibrate his wings real fast and it sounded like a Bee sound, then I got up and moved away slowly and he started to walk after me, following my every move, lol. So I decided to get away from him and go back indoors for the night.

c

crickett1142

Jeffersonville, IN | August 2009 | Positive

I found a yellow one on my rose bush. as not knowing what they was, we came here to see if we could fine one.

d

debnes_dfw_tx

Fort Worth, TX (Zone 8a) | April 2008 | Positive

This is some very cool garden character. Sure they do "damage", lol... It's called sustenance! Every caterpillar requires a host plant in order to become a butterfly or moth. The main favorite of the Tersa is Penta, and they are actually quite picky. The cats can always be moved out of the main "show" garden to some potted plants in a less visible location.
These are very fun cats to raise, especially if there are any children around to track the stages with. Their cartoonish faces are way too cute not to love!! When they are ready to pupate they will crawl down into the leaf litter below the plant. This pupa can be collected to await it's emergence. That will generally happen sometime after midnight on about day 10-12. Like the majority of moths, the Tersa Sphinx Moth is... read more

T

TexasPuddyPrint

Edinburg, TX | November 2006 | Positive

I added a photo of both a brown and green tersa sphinx cat. They are good looking cats :o) Our local butterfly parks plant plenty of nectaring and larval host plants so it's always nice to see their efforts paying off :o)

One of the local nurseries calls me up periodically - seems their customers come in with jars of 'worms' they find eating their plants and want to know how to kill them!

Am always puzzled why folks want butterflies in their yard then complain about the 'worms' - it's called the cycle of life.

It's a good thing the guys at the nursery just about have me on speed-dial :o) They call me up and I go collect the caterpillars to raise and release them in my yard.

Will say Tersa cats are voracious eaters and they ... read more

a

aprilwillis

Missouri City, TX (Zone 9a) | October 2006 | Negative

Amazingly interesting cat for such a boring looking adult moth- unfortunately sphinx moths do a lot of damage to ornamentals.

t

tajataja

Hull,Ga, GA (Zone 8a) | October 2006 | Positive

This evening I was outside taking pictures of my angles trumpets and these moths were all over the flowers, going up in them. WOW I got a picture....

Tersa Sphinx Moth

Xylophanes tersa

Featured Videos