Nephele vau

Nephele vau
Nephele vau
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Nephele
Species: N. vau
Binomial name
Nephele vau
(Walker, 1856)[1]
Synonyms
  • Zonilia vau Walker, 1856
  • Zonilia raffrayi Oberthür, 1878
  • Zonilia schimperi Lucas, 1857

Nephele vau is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is common throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara, but rarer in southern Africa.[2]

The length of the forewings is 25-31 mm. The black abdominal spots are somewhat diffuse and narrow. The ground colour is variable, ranging from pale greyish buff to coppery-brown and to olive-green. The forewings have a large dark olive to reddish-brown subtriangular spot. There is a V-shaped golden-white stigma. The hindwings are olive bordered with brown or copper.

The larvae feed on Carissa edulis.

References

  1. ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Nephele/vau.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. 
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