Erinnyis lassauxii

Erinnyis lassauxii
Lassaux's Sphinx
Erinnyis lassauxii, adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Erinnyis
Species: E. lassauxii
Binomial name
Erinnyis lassauxii
(Boisduval, 1859)[1]
Synonyms
  • Anceryx lassauxii Boisduval, 1859
  • Anceryx janiphae Boisduval, 1875
  • Anceryx omphaleae Boisduval, 1870
  • Anceryx piperis Schaufuss, 1870
  • Dilophonota cercyon Burmeister, 1878
  • Erinnyis merianae Grote, 1865

The Lassaux's Sphinx (Erinnyis lassauxii) is a moth of the Family Sphingidae. It lives from northern Argentina, through Central America, and into the lower United States (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona).

The wingspan is 92-105 mm. The upperside of the forewing is dark brown with gray streaks along the inner margin and a gray patch at the tip of the wing. The upperside of the hindwing is dark brown with varying amounts of dark orange at the base.[2]

Adults are on wing year round in the tropics and have been recorded from July to October in Arizona, in December in Texas and in September in southern Florida. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Saponaria officinalis and Cynanchum racemosum.

The caterpillars of this species feed on papaya (Carica papaya), Manihot esculenta in the spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae), and several plants in the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae).

References

  1. ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Erinnyis/lassauxii.html. Retrieved 2011-10-19. 
  2. ^ "Silkmoths". Silkmoths.bizland.com. http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/elassaux.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-19. 

External links

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