I accidently disturbed this beautiful achemon sphinx moth (Eumorpha achemon) who was sitting under a trumpet vine. I've seen other large sphinx moths sitting under this same enormous vine, presumably waiting for nightfall, so I'm thinking that they must drink the trumpet vine's flower nectar as food during their nocturnal activity. After I disturbed the moth, he went and sat under a cluster of sunflowers, where I was able to get a photograph of him even though it was cloudy, breezy, and there was a sprinkle of rain. He was dry and comfortable under the sunflowers, and not in the least concerned about me. (My wife, Libby, commented that he looked a lot like a dried leaf where he was sitting.) The caterpillars of these moths are fond of Virginia creeper and other members of the grape family. Fortunately, birds have brought Virginia creeper seeds into our back yard from a stand on a neighbor's fence, and it is now thriving under the pomegranates (and occasionally on them) thanks to last year's heavy summer rains, which helped it get established in a number of spots. There is now plenty of Virginia creeper for the next generation of achemon sphinx moths, as well as other moths whose larvae use it as food.
