Pergesa

Pergesa is a monotypic moth genus in the family Sphingidae first described by Francis Walker in 1856. Its only species, Pergesa acteus, the green pergesa hawkmoth, was described by Pieter Cramer in 1779.[2]

Green pergesa hawkmoth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Subfamily:	Macroglossinae
Genus:	Pergesa Walker, 1856
Species:	P. acteus
Binomial name
Pergesa acteus (Cramer, 1779)[1]
Synonyms
Generic Rhyncholaba Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Specific Sphinx acteus Cramer, 1779 Panacra butleri Rothschild, 1894

Distributution

It is found in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, eastern and southern China, Taiwan, Japan (the Ryukyu Archipelago), Peninsular Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi) and the Philippines.

Description

The wingspan is 64–80 mm. Head, thorax and abdomen are purplish grey, which differs from Theretra nessus. Vertex of head and a dorso-lateral stripe to thorax and abdomen is green. Forewings are purplish grey with a green oblique central area from below apex to inner margin with some indistinct lines on it. There is an irregular dark outer area with some yellow inside it. Hindwings with anal patch and submarginal band are pointed.[3]

Larva are greenish with a dark dorsal line, and a subdorsal pale line on thoracic somites. The fourth somite has a large ocellus, which is white ringed with brown and centered with blue and green.[4] The ocelli on the fifth to tenth somites are bluish with yellow centers. Lateral area is greenish and horn is yellowish. The caterpillars feed on Alocasia odora, Syngonium podophyllum, Amorphophallus, Arisaema, Caladium, Colocasia, Dieffenbachia, Begonia, Commelina, Leea, Cissus and Vitis species.[5]

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  Male dorsal
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  Male △ ventral
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  Female dorsal
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  Female △ ventral

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  Eggs
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  Caterpillar
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  Caterpillar
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  Pupa
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  Imago side

References

1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
2. Savela, Markku. "Pergesa Walker, 1856". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
3. Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
4. Leong, T. M. & D'Rozario, V. "Larval Development and Metamorphosis of the Hawkmoth, Pergesa acteus (Cramer) in Singapore (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae: Macroglossinae)" (PDF). National University of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
5. Pittaway, A. R.; Kitching, I. J. (2018). "Pergesa acteus (Cramer, 1779) -- Green pergesa hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 16, 2018.