Manduca florestan

Manduca florestan
Manduca florestan, adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Manduca
Species:	M. florestan
Binomial name
Manduca florestan (Stoll, 1782)[1]
Synonyms
Sphinx florestan Stoll, 1782 Protoparce maricina Schaus, 1941 Diludia brevimargo Butler, 1875 Protoparce florestan vogli Daniel, 1949 Protoparce florestan cabnal Schaus, 1932 Protoparce florestan argentinica Daniel, 1949

The Florestan Sphinx (Manduca florestan) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from the from the mountains of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and the lower Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the rest of Central America south into South America at least to Paraguay, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Surinam.^[2]

Manduca florestan variation

The wingspan is 99-110 mm. It is similar in appearance to several other members of the Manduca genus, but a number of differences distinguish it from Manduca lichenea, to which it most closely compares. There is a great deal of individual variation. The forewings have a greenish tint and prominent black discal streaks.

There is one generation with adults on wing from late June to early August in the United States. In Bolivia, adults have been reported in March and again from October to December, while adults are on wing year round in Costa Rica. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Plumeria rubra in Costa Rica.

The larvae feed on Tecoma and Citharexylum species, Stachytarpheta frantzii, Callicarpa acuminata, Aegiphylla martinicensis, Citharexylum costaricensis, Tabebuia ochracea, Callichlamys latifolia, Cydista heterophylla, Cydista diversifolia, Crescentia alata, Macfadyena unguis-cati, Cordia panamensis, Cordia alliodora and Chionentis panamensis. In Brazil, larvae have been reported on Lantana camara, Pyrostegia venusta and Vitex megapotamica.

References

1. ^ CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae
2. ^ Silkmoths

External links

• Manduca florestan Moths of North America Guide