''Acosmeryx naga'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, bu ...

. It was described by

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

in 1858, and is known from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

South-east Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 86–112 mm. Acosmeryx naga MHNT CUT 2010 0 95 Sa Pa, Lào Cai, Viêt Nam, male dorsal.jpg, Male, dorsal - MHNT Acosmeryx naga MHNT CUT 2010 0 95 Sa Pa, Lào Cai, Viêt Nam, male ventral.jpg, Male, underside ventral

Distribution

In northern China, there is one generation per year, with adults on wing from April to June. In Korea, adults are on wing from early May to mid-August.

Biology

The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

of the species have been found on plants in the genera ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

'', ''

Ampelopsis ''Ampelopsis'', commonly known as peppervine or porcelainberry, is a genus of climbing shrubs, in the grape family Vitaceae. The name is derived from the grc, ἅμπελος (''ampelos''), which means "vine". The genus was named in 1803. It is ...

'', ''

Actinidia ''Actinidia'' is a genus of woody and, with a few exceptions, dioecious plants native to temperate eastern Asia, occurring throughout most of China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and extending north to southern areas of Russian Far East and south i ...

'', and ''

Saurauia ''Saurauia'' is a genus of plants in the family Actinidiaceae. It comprises about over 300 species distributed in the tropics and subtropics of Asia and South and Central America. Genetic evidence and the cell biology of the group support monophy ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Acosmeryx naga naga'' (Himalayan foothills of Pakistan, India, Nepal and China, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, northern Vietnam, eastern and southern China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan) *''Acosmeryx naga hissarica'' Shchetkin, 1956 (southern Tajikistan and Afghanistan) Acosmeryx naga hissarica MHNT CUT 2010 0 414 Afghanistan, male dorsal.jpg, ''Acosmeryx naga hissarica'' male, dorsal Acosmeryx naga hissarica MHNT CUT 2010 0 414 Afghanistan, male ventral.jpg, ''Acosmeryx naga hissarica'' male, ventral Acosmeryx naga hissarica MHNT CUT 2010 0 414 Afghanistan, female dorsal.jpg, ''Acosmeryx naga hissarica'' female, dorsal Acosmeryx naga hissarica MHNT CUT 2010 0 414 Afghanistan, female ventral.jpg, ''Acosmeryx naga hissarica'' female ventral

References

Acosmeryx Moths described in 1858 Moths of Asia {{Macroglossini-stub