Streaked Sphinx

Protambulyx strigilis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae

Also called: Streaked Sphinx Moth

Damages trees, gardens or crops. The caterpillars can damage a wide range of tropical trees and garden plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Streaked Sphinx
Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA

The streaked sphinx has a wingspan of about 108 to 134 mm. It lives in tropical and subtropical lowlands from Florida through Central and South America. Its larvae feed on many trees and shrubs such as Spondias, Astronium, Anacardium, Simarouba, and Schinus species.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Protambulyx strigilis, the streaked sphinx, belongs to the moth family Sphingidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Adults have a wingspan ranging from 108 to 134 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found in tropical and subtropical lowland habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae have been recorded feeding on a variety of plants including Spondias dulcis, S. mombin, S. purpurea, Astronium graveolens, Anacardium occidentale, Simarouba glauca, and Schinus terebinthifolius.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range extends from Florida down through Central America to South America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 3 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas, Kansas.

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

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Streaked Sphinx photo 3
Photo: veronica, CC BY-SA
Streaked Sphinx photo 4
Photo: Sara Piotter, CC BY
Streaked Sphinx photo 5
Photo: steffiland, CC BY-SA
Streaked Sphinx photo 6
Photo: unknown, CC0

Questions people ask

What plants do streaked sphinx caterpillars eat?

They feed on many tropical trees and shrubs such as Spondias species, Astronium graveolens, Anacardium occidentale, Simarouba glauca, and Schinus terebinthifolius.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Sphingidae)

White-lined SphinxWhite-lined SphinxHyles lineataDamages trees, gardens or cropsEurasian Hummingbird HawkmothEurasian Hummingbird HawkmothMacroglossum stellatarumSnowberry ClearwingSnowberry ClearwingHemaris diffinisCarolina SphinxCarolina SphinxManduca sextaDamages trees, gardens or cropsHummingbird ClearwingHummingbird ClearwingHemaris thysbeDamages trees, gardens or cropsElephant HawkmothElephant HawkmothDeilephila elpenor

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protambulyx_strigilis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.