Blue Horntail vs Cantor's Hawk Moth

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Blue Horntail Cantor's Hawk Moth
Scientific Name Sirex juvencus Ambulyx cantorii
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Siricidae Sphingidae
Size 12–30 mm 85-115 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Wood Feeders Fruit Feeders
Regions Europe, North America, Asia India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Blue Horntail

A metallic blue-black horntail wasp found across the Northern Hemisphere. It breeds in recently dead or dying spruce and fir trees.

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Did You Know?

Adults sometimes emerge from milled lumber years later, boring clean round exit holes through flooring or walls.

Cantor's Hawk Moth

A large leaf-mimicking hawk moth with intricately patterned brown and cream forewings. Named after the zoologist Theodore Edward Cantor, it inhabits forests of South and Southeast Asia.

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Did You Know?

When resting among leaf litter, Ambulyx cantorii is virtually invisible, its wing patterns perfectly mimicking a dried curled leaf.