Elm Sphinx
On July 3, 2012, I found this huge sphinx moth hanging out on the wall of the building I work in. So I got a box from my office, caught it inside along with a wadded-up piece of paper to give it something to perch on, and took it home for pictures. For a size reference, the circular object under the tip of its left wing is a quarter coin
There are a number of big sphinx moths that look generally similar to this one, but most of them have pink or yellow markings on the abdomen, and this one doesn’t.
The best match I can find is the Elm Sphinx, Ceratomia amyntor, it has the same wing markings, is the right size, and flies at the right time of year.
BugGude says the adults “probably do not feed”, but if we look at the head closely, there is definitely a curled-up proboscis there.
Of course, that doesn’t prove that it can eat as an adult, but most of the insects I’ve seen that have non-feeding adults haven’t had any noticeable mouthparts at all.
Of course, it is possible that the adults might take a bit of food if it is not too much trouble, but maybe won’t go out of their way to seriously seek food if it cuts into their mating and egg-laying time.
The caterpillars are big, green things with a distinctive set of four “horns” just behind their heads, and eat leaves from trees that are related to elm, basswood, cherry, and birch. I’m not sure if we have much elm growing around here, but we certainly have the other three.
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I think this may be what is in my garden, I have a few photos of it, can I post some on here so you can see it, this sounds weird, but it looks like it has the head of a chickadee!!! I was googling this and your site came up and we live in Houghton!!! Small world….