Baldcypress sphinx moth
Isoparce cupressi
Moth
The baldcypress sphinx is a narrow host-use hawkmoth whose caterpillars feed on Taxodium, especially baldcypress. The brown adult is easy to miss, but the larval relationship is garden-relevant wherever baldcypress is planted as a wetland, pond-edge, or floodplain tree. Supporting it means keeping Taxodium foliage available and avoiding broad insecticide treatments during the caterpillar season.
Plants in the catalog
Larval host plants · 1
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists bald cypress as the larval host for the baldcypress sphinx moth (Isoparce cupressi), a Taxodium-feeding specialist.
Range
Southeastern and south-central United States, following baldcypress and related Taxodium habitats in swamp, bottomland, and wetland-edge landscapes.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Baldcypress sphinx moth (Isoparce cupressi). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/isoparce-cupressi
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
BAMONA: Baldcypress Sphinx Isoparce cupressi
Species profile used for taxonomy, range, seasonality, and Taxodium larval-host context.
BugGuide: Isoparce cupressi
Identification and host-plant cross-check for the baldcypress sphinx moth.
GBIF: Isoparce cupressi
GBIF returns an exact accepted species match for Isoparce cupressi at key 1864204 in family Sphingidae.
iNaturalist: Isoparce cupressi
iNaturalist taxon 143808 is the species Isoparce cupressi, the cypress sphinx.