Bug FAQHuckleberry Sphinx
Paonias astylus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae
Also called: Huckleberry Sphinx Moth
It lives in the eastern United States, from Maine down to Florida and west to Missouri and Mississippi, and its caterpillars feed on blueberry, other Vaccinium species, Prunus, Andromeda and willow.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Paonias astylus, known as the huckleberry sphinx, belongs to the moth family Sphingidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan measures roughly 55 to 65 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adult moths do not feed.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
In the northern part of its range there is a single generation, with adults flying in July.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults appear from March through June and again in September in Florida. In the northern part of the range adults are seen in July.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 24 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.
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
What do the caterpillars eat?
The larvae feed on blueberry, other Vaccinium species, Prunus, Andromeda and willow.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Sphingidae)
White-lined SphinxHyles lineataDamages trees, gardens or crops
Eurasian Hummingbird HawkmothMacroglossum stellatarum
Snowberry ClearwingHemaris diffinis
Carolina SphinxManduca sextaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Hummingbird ClearwingHemaris thysbeDamages trees, gardens or crops
Elephant HawkmothDeilephila elpenorSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paonias_astylus
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.