''Acosmeryx shervillii'', the dull forest hawkmoth, 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 ...

. The species was first described by

Jean Baptiste Boisduval Jean Baptiste Alphonse Déchauffour de Boisduval (24 June 1799 – 30 December 1879) was a French lepidopterist, botanist, and physician. He was one of the most celebrated lepidopterists of France, and was the co-founder of the Société entomol ...

in 1875. It is found from the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n subregion,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, to

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

. ''Acosmeryx pseudonaga'' is sometimes treated as a valid species.

Description

The colour varieties of the species have been described as separate species many times. However, they are classified as colour morphs of the single species ''A. shervillii''. According to ''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books th ...

: Moths Volume I'' by G. F. Hampson:

Biology

There are three or more generations in Hong Kong, occurring from early March until early October. The larvae have been recorded on ''

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 ...

'', ''

Dillenia ''Dillenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dilleniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, Australasia, and the Indian Ocean islands. The genus is named after the German botanist Johann Jacob Dillenius, ...

'', ''

Leea ''Leea'' (Tagalog: ''Talyantan'') is a genus of plants that are distributed throughout Northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, South and Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. The APG IV system places ''Leea'' in the subfamily Leeoideae (Vitacea ...

'', ''

Cayratia The genus ''Cayratia'' consists of species of vine plants, typical of the tribe Cayratieae. Some of them are useful, and they are found in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, Africa, Australia, and islands of the Pacific Ocean. Within the Vi ...

'', ''

Cissus ''Cissus'' is a genus of approximately 350 species of lianas (Woody plant, woody vines) in the grape family (Vitaceae). They have a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority are to be found in the tropics. Uses Medicinal ''Cissus quadrang ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' species. Acosmeryx shervillii MHNT CUT 2010 0 23 Ban Kheum Laos Male Dorsal.jpg, Male Acosmeryx shervillii MHNT CUT 2010 0 23 Ban Kheum Laos Male Ventral.jpg, Male underside Acosmeryx shervillii MHNT CUT 2010 0 24 Taiping Perak Malaisia female dorsal.jpg, Female Acosmeryx shervillii MHNT CUT 2010 0 24 Taiping Perak Malaisia female ventral.jpg, Female underside

References

External links

* Acosmeryx Moths described in 1875 Moths of Asia {{Macroglossini-stub