Isn't this a cool-looking moth? We discovered four of them sitting on the front wall of our garage yesterday. I'd never even seen a green moth before but that did make it easier for me to identify it.
This is a Pacific Green Sphinx Moth (Arctonotus lucidus or Proserpinus lucidus) and they can be found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California. We've lived in Spokane for 35 years and I've never seen one of these so it seems unusual that they would suddenly appear, especially this early in the year. This is a close-up of the moth so don't worry, they're not as large as it looks. The body is a little over 1 inch long.
Host plants for the caterpillar stage of this moth are Evening Primrose and Clarkia. I don't have either in my garden so am not sure why they picked our place to land! According to my research, I shouldn't have to worry about them causing any problems so I intend to just enjoy getting to see such pretty moths.
