Although the hawk moths are among the most recognized moths in the world, aside from a small number of economically important species, surprisingly little is known about the natural history of this group of insects.
This book provides detailed biological information on the 127 taxa of Sphingidae that have been reported from the Continental United States and Canada. All aspects of the lifecycle of the various species known to breed in North America are discussed in depth. For the first time, the larvae of all species, whose immature stages are nown, are illustrated on nine colour plates; the adults are illustrated on an additional 14 colour plates; and adult nectar resources are reported.
Also for the first time, an entire chapter is dedicated to predation and parasitism, and a host-driven Appendix lists previously reported host parasitoid assosiations of which many are new to science. Finally, although the work stresses the biology of Sphingidae, the resulting field work has led to a taxonomic revision with Holarctic implications. The book is heavily annotated with almost 500 bibliographic entries, thereby assessing old information, reporting out new information, and incorporating the literature with the latest field work.