Aellopos clavipes

Aellopos clavipes, also known as the clavipes sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae.

Clavipes sphinx
Male dorsal
Male ventral
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Aellopos
Species:
A. clavipes
Binomial name
Aellopos clavipes
Synonyms
  • Sesia clavipes Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
  • Sesia clavipes eumelas Jordan, 1924

Distribution

It lives mainly in Central America but ranges from Venezuela to California, Arizona, and Texas in the United States.

Description

The body is dark brown with a wide white band across the abdomen. The wings are dark brown. The forewing has a black cell spot and three white spots near the pale brown marginal area.[2]

  • Female dorsal
  • Female ventral

Biology

Adults are on wing from May to December in Costa Rica. There are probably three main generations with adults on wing in December, from April to May and in September.

The larvae feed on various Rubiaceae species, including Randia rhagocarpa, Randia monantha, Randia aculeata, Guettarda macrosperma and Genipa americana. Pupation takes place in shallow underground chambers.

Subspecies
  • Aellopos clavipes clavipes
  • Aellopos clavipes eumelas (Jordan, 1924) (Jamaica)

References
  1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  2. "Silkmoths". Silkmoths.bizland.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2011-10-19.


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