Marumba sperchius

Marumba sperchius
Marumba sperchius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Marumba
Species: M. sperchius
Binomial name
Marumba sperchius
(Menetries, 1857)[1]
Synonyms
  • Smerinthus sperchius Ménétriés, 1857
  • Triptogon albicans Butler, 1875
  • Triptogon gigas Butler, 1875
  • Triptogon piceipennis Butler, 1877
  • Marumba scotti Rothschild, 1920
  • Smerinthus michaelis Oberthür, 1886
  • Marumba sperchius castanea O. Bang-Haas, 1938
  • Marumba sperchius coreanus O. Bang-Haas, 1938
  • Marumba sperchius handelii Mell, 1922
  • Marumba sperchius horiana Clark, 1937
  • Marumba sperchius koreaesperchius Bryk, 1946
  • Marumba sperchius obsoleta O. Bang-Haas, 1938
  • Marumba sperchius ochraceus O. Bang-Haas, 1927
  • Marumba sperchius ussuriensis O. Bang-Haas, 1927

Marumba sperchius is a species of moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from north-western India across north-eastern India, south-western, central and eastern China to the southern Russian Far East, North Korea, South Korea and Japan.[2] It is also present on Sumatra and Borneo.

The wingspan is 88-138 mm. It is similar to Marumba juvencus, but the lines of the forewing and the ground colour of the hindwing are more reddish and the lines on either side of the weak discal spot are hardly converge.

There are two generations per year with adults on wing in April and again in August in northern China. In Korea, adults are on wing from late May to late August.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on Castanea (including Castanea crenata), Castanopsis, Quercus (including Quercus glauca, Quercus mongolica, Quercus acutissima, Quercus myrsinaefolia, Quercus acuta, Quercus salicina, Quercus serrata and Castanea crenata), Juglans (including Juglans regia and Juglans mandschurica), Lithocarpus (including Lithocarpus edulis) and Eriobotrya species. Early instars are pale yellow, while later instars turn bluish green with the tubercles brown or reddish, tipped with white. Oblique stripes are formed of mauve or yellow tubercles on a white ground. The horn is green with paler tubercles.[3]

Subspecies

  • Marumba sperchius sperchius (from north-western India across north-eastern India, south-western, central and eastern China to the southern Russian Far East, North Korea, South Korea and Japan)
  • Marumba sperchius sumatranus Clark, 1923 (Sumatra, Borneo)

References