---
title: "Tersa Sphinx"
description: "Xylophanes tersa — Owady i pająki. Xylophanes tersa, the tersa sphinx, is a species of moth of the family Sphingidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/tersa-sphinx
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Tersa Sphinx

> Xylophanes tersa — Owady i pająki. Xylophanes tersa, the tersa sphinx, is a species of moth of the family Sphingidae.

- Scientific name: *Xylophanes tersa*
- Category: `insects` (Owady i pająki)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 16825
- Wikidata: [Q1350543](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1350543)
- iNaturalist taxon: [69737](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/69737)

## Names

- en: Tersa Sphinx
- es: Polilla Esfinge Tersa

## Countries with the most observations

US (12869), BR (825), MX (522), CO (234), AR (199), CR (174), DO (108), PA (91), JM (87), GF (77), TT (48), HN (46)

## Summary

Xylophanes tersa, the tersa sphinx, is a species of moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771. It is found from the United States (Massachusetts south to southern Florida, west to Nebraska, New Mexico and southern Arizona), through Mexico, the West Indies and Central America and into parts of South America (including Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil). An occasional stray can be found as far north as Canada.
The larvae feed on Borreria, Catalpa, Manettia, and Pentas species, and Spermacoce glabra, Hamelia patens, Hedyotis nigricans, Heimia salicifolia, Psychotria…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylophanes_tersa

## Photo

![Tersa Sphinx](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/tersa-sphinx/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jade Fortnash · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93785677

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/tersa-sphinx?lang=pl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).