Apple sphinx

Most days, I have to come to nature, but often, at night, nature comes to me. One of my favorite "harvest" spots is right outside the kitchen, where the porch light sings a siren song to invertebrates of every shape, size, and color. At around 11, it proved irresistible to a large but rather drab moth. My first thought, after capturing identification photos, was that it had to be some kind of carpenterworm moth, since the vital statistics matched a member of that group I'd seen before. But a scan through the new Peterson moth field guide nixed that notion, so I went to Plan B, which is essentially to thumb through the entire book. I felt I was in the right neighborhood when I got to page 256, the realm of the Large Sphinx Moths, which were an even better size-and-shape match to the critter on the cedar shingles. All the wing markings, both fore and aft, seemed to suggest that my visitor was a Northern Apple Sphinx, but to be on the safe side, I sent the image to my long-suffering mentor, Dave Wagner. He was good enough to examine my "treasure"—this critter is actually quite common—and wrote, "Ten four on Sphinx gordius-poecila. I am a skeptic on the goodness of poecila as a good species. Maybe it is, but I want to see the molecular data." Until I see that information, I'll remain happy with my ID.

And finally, this large moth arrived at the lights recently. From the
new Peterson, I'd make it a Northern Apple Sphinx (S. poecila) -- am I
on the right track?