Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFSphingidae Members:
Isoparce Members:
26 NC Records

Isoparce cupressi (Boisduval, 1875) - Bald Cypress Sphinx


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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Bombycoidea Family: SphingidaeSubfamily: SphinginaeTribe: SphinginiP3 Number: 890108.00 MONA Number: 7791.00
Comments: For many years a single species occupied the genus but a second Mexican species has now been described.
Species Status: Barcodes indicate that Isoparce cupressi is a single, well-defined species in our area.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Leckie and Beadle (2018)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Hodges (1971); Tuttle (2007)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Dominick (1973); Wagner (2005); Tuttle (2007)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Isoparce is one of our smaller sphinx moths, with warm brown tones and fine streaking. Unlikely to be confused with any species other than Paratrea plebeja with which it is often captured. Sexes similar but females considerably larger. Larvae of all instars were well described and illustrated by Dominick (1973) and also illustrated by Wagner (2005).
Wingspan: 6 - 6.5 cm (Covell, 1984)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are typically dark green, with a distinctive dark mid-dorsal strip and white subdorsal, lateral, and subspiracular streaks. Like other cypess-feeding lepidoptera, cupressi appears to have become adapted for pupating up on the tree rather than burrowing into the ground like virtually all of our other Sphingid species. Richard Dominick found two pupae under loose cypress bark (cited by Hodges, 1971) and later demonstrated that pre-pupal larvae would burrow into patches of moss on cypress trunks to pupate (Dominick, 1973).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: All of our records come from the Coastal Plain (Cypress extends into the Piedmont along a few rivers but our limited sampling in those areas -- e.g., at Louisburg in Franklin County -- did not turn up this species)
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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