Polyptychus affinis

Polyptychus affinis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Polyptychus
Species:	P. affinis
Binomial name
	Polyptychus affinis; Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
Synonyms
	Polyptychus retusus Rothschild & Jordan, 1908; Polyptychus pierrei Kitching & Cadiou, 2000; Polyptychus modestum Bernardi, 1970;

Polyptychus affinis is a moth of the family Sphingidae first described by Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan in 1903. It is known at elevations up to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) in forests from Sierra Leone to the Congo, Uganda and western Kenya.[1]

The length of the forewings is 28–30 millimetres (1.1–1.2 in) for males. The forewings are grey with a prominent black basal spot, and wavy transverse dark lines. The body is grey with a median blackish streak on the head and thorax. The hindwings are grey with a black streak near the inner margin and one or two black spots near the tornus. Females are larger. They have purplish-chocolate forewings, mottled with lighter brown. The hindwings are darker than the forewings. The black inner marginal streak and tornal spots are present.

The larvae feed on Detarium senegalense and Albizia species.[2]

Taxonomy

Polyptychus retusus is sometimes treated as a valid species.[3]

References

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.
De Prins, J. & De Prins, W. (2018). "Polyptychus affinis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903". Afromoths. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
"CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-11-01.

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[1] 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.

[2] De Prins, J. & De Prins, W. (2018). "Polyptychus affinis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903". Afromoths. Retrieved December 5, 2018.

[3] "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-11-01.