Manduca quinquemaculatus, Smith Valley, La Crosse County, Wisconsin,
September 3, 2007, Mary Ann Roesler.

Manduca quinquemaculatus, Smith Valley, La Crosse County, Wisconsin,
September 3, 2007, Mary Ann Roesler.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
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TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Sphinginae, Latreille, [1802] Tribe: Sphingini, Latreille, 1802 Genus: Manduca Hubner, 1807 ........... Species: quinquemaculatus Haworth, 1803

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Mary Ann writes, "Here are photos of another moth I took on 9-03-2007 in our mall area near Office Depot on a cement light post. I didn’t have a clue what it was, but now, in seeing the others, know it also is a moth. Why are these large moths on concrete?"

I replied, "At night the moths are attracted to lights and get mesmerized by them. I suspect there are security lights at the mall that are drawing the moths, and the concrete (cement light post) is right below the light so that is where they end up. It might also be more difficult for birds to see and attack them on a vertical post. If you visited the same area around 1:00 am, there probably would be many more moths all around. Some fly off at day break; others get eaten by birds."

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