Basiothia medea

Basiothia medea, the small verdant hawk, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is common in open habitats throughout the Ethiopian Region, including Madagascar. It is however probably absent from the equatorial forest belt, except as a vagrant. The species is an active migrant.[2]

Small verdant hawk
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Sphingidae
Genus:
Basiothia
Species:
B. medea
Binomial name
Basiothia medea
(Fabricius, 1781)[1]
Synonyms
  • Sphinx medea Fabricius, 1781
  • Sphinx minus Fabricius, 1787
  • Sphinx idrieus Drury, 1782
  • Sphinx clio Fabricius, 1793
  • Sphinx onothberina Martyn, 1797
  • Choerocampa transfigurata Wallengren, 1860
  • Basiothia nigrita Clark, 1920
  • Basiothia idricus Walker, 1856

The length of the forewings is 22–25 mm and the wingspan is 49–63 mm. The body is grass green. The forewings are grass green with two or three faint darker green transverse lines. The hindwings are dull orange with a narrow brown margin.

The larvae feed on Spermacoce natalensis, Dioda, Spermacoce, Pentas and Pentasinia species.[3]

References
  1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-12-20. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  2. Carcasson, R. H. (1967). "Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African species". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum. 26 (3): 1–173 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. De Prins, J. & De Prins, W. (2018). "Basiothia medea (Fabricius, 1781)". Afromoths. Retrieved December 5, 2018.


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