Nephele argentifera

Nephele argentifera
Nephele argentifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Nephele
Species: N. argentifera
Binomial name
Nephele argentifera
(Walker, 1856)[1]
Synonyms
  • Zonilia argentifera Walker, 1856

Nephele argentifera is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from coastal bush and savanna from Somalia to northern South Africa.[2]

The length of the forewings is 32-35 mm and the wingspan is 78-85 mm. The black lateral spots of the abdomen are large and well defined. The ground colour of the body and forewings is dark olive, usually fading to light ochreous brown. The forewings have a straight silvery-white subbasal band and a thick silvery-white postmedial band with the proximal margin evenly curved and the distal margin straight. The stigma consists of a large silvery-white triangular spot. The hindwings are olive with a wide blackish margin.

The larvae feed on Carissa species.

References

  1. ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Nephele/argentifera.html. Retrieved 2011-10-25. 
  2. ^ "Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African species". Biodiversitylibrary.org. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/jeanhs/XXVI%20No.3%20(115)_1_1967_Carcasson.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-25. 
This Macroglossini-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.