Plant Protection - Catalpas & The Catalpa Sphinx Moth
Catalpas are generally propagated by seed that should be sown in a prepared seedbed in Fall. They will come up in Spring. Transplant the following Spring after one year's growth.
Adult sphinx moths lay eggs on catalpa leaves. The eggs hatch into small caterpillars that eat the leaves and grow rapidly. When the caterpillars reach a certain size, they fall to the ground and turn into pupa. The pupa undergoes metamorphosis and emerges as a moth, to begin the cycle again.
Catalpa Sphinx,* Ceratomia catalpas (Boisduval). Sphinx moth larvae (caterpillars) feed on native species of catalpa causing almost annual defoliation in the Middle West. The catalpas native range is from New Jersey to Florida and west to Illinois and Texas. Early fishermen in Georgia and Florida cultivated catalpas to get the sphinx caterpillars for bait. They are about 3 inches long, with a black horn, variable in color from nearly black on top to pale yellow. The hawk moths are gray with irregular light and dark markings, 3 inches across the wings. Naked brown pupae winter in the soil under or near catalpa trees, and moths fly as soon as trees come into leaf, laying up to 1,000 eggs in white masses on the underside of foliage. Young caterpillars start feeding in 2 weeks, first in groups, then separately. There are 2 generations in the North, 3 or 4 in the South. Outbreaks are periodic, with defoliation and sometimes death of the trees attacked for a period of about 3 years before parasites get the pest under control again.
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