gregariously; older ones, singly. In the Deep South, all life stages may be present 
during the summer, and there may be three or four generations per year. In the 
North there is only one generation per year. Larvae are often heavily parasitized by 
the hymenopteran Cotesia congregata (Say) (fig. 89). 
Courtesy OSU, Ohio Agric. Res. 
& Dev. Cent., Dep. Entomol. 
Figure 89.—Larvae of the catalpa sphinx 
parasitized by Cotesia congregata. 
The great ash sphinx, Sphinx chersis (Hubner), feeds on lilac and ash through- 
out the United States. Full-grown larvae are usually light green with yellow-banded, 
bluish heads and are about 75 mm long. There are seven light-yellowish stripes, 
edged above with bluish green, on each side of the body, and the caudal horn is pale 
blue and curved downward. The larvae are found most commonly on young trees 
and sprout growth in the open or along roadsides. Populations are sometimes heavy 
enough to cause noticeable defoliation in such areas. 
Sphinx kalmiae J. E. Smith, the laurel sphinx, feeds on white ash, fringetree, 
mountain-laurel, rhododendron, and lilac from southern Canada throughout the 
Atlantic States to Georgia and west to Saskatchewan and Mississippi. Full-grown 
larvae are yellowish green and about 75 mm long. The body is marked by seven 
oblique, yellow stripes edged above with black; the caudal horn is arcuate and blue 
with black, raised markings. S. /uscitiosa Clemens feeds on poplar and willow in 
the Atlantic Coast States and west through the northern Plains. S. drupiferarum J. 
E. Smith, a widely distributed species, feeds on apple, cherry, hackberry, plum, 
and peach. 
Eastern white, pitch, red, and jack pines are fed on by the larvae of Lapara 
bombycoides Walker, the pine tree sphinx, in eastern Canada and from the Atlantic 
Coast through the northern Plains. The larvae are present from July to September. 
Full-grown specimens are green except for a broad, brick-red, median dorsal stripe; 
214 
