Bug FAQHermit Sphinx
Lintneria eremitus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae
Also called: Hermit Sphinx Moth
The hermit sphinx moth has a wingspan of about 65 to 75 mm and lives in the eastern United States and southern Canada across the Great Plains. Adults appear once a year from late June to August, are active at dusk, and the caterpillars feed on mint-family plants.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Caterpillars can be green, black, or brown.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The adult’s wingspan ranges from about 65 to 75 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are common in gardens and yards wherever their nectar plants and host plants grow.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults sip nectar from light-colored, deep-throated flowers such as phlox or milkweed. The larvae eat a variety of mint-family plants, including Lycopus, mint, bee balm, and sage.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is one generation each year, with adults emerging from late June through August.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are most active at dusk.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They live in the temperate eastern United States and extend north into southern Canada across the Great Plains.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be mistaken for the Canadian sphinx, but the two species rarely occur together.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 29 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, North Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When are adult hermit sphinx moths active?
Adults fly from late June to August, mainly at dusk.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is the hermit sphinx found?
It lives in the eastern United States and southern Canada across the Great Plains.
Source: Wikipedia
What plants do the larvae eat?
The larvae feed on mint-family plants such as Lycopus, mint, bee balm, and sage.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Sphingidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lintneria_eremitus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.