''Aellopos ceculus'' 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.
Distribution
It lives mainly in the northern section of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
but has known to be found as far north as
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
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 42–47 mm.
[ It can be distinguished from all other '' Aellopos'' species by the yellow median band found on the hindwing upperside.
Aellopos ceculus MHNT CUT 2010 0 309 Todos Santos Chapare Bolivia male dorsal.jpg, ''Aellopos ceculus'' ♂
Aellopos ceculus MHNT CUT 2010 0 309 Todos Santos Chapare Bolivia male ventral.jpg, ''Aellopos ceculus'' ♂ △
Aellopos ceculus MHNT CUT 2010 0 309 Diehl Sumatra female dorsal.jpg, ''Aellopos ceculus'' ♀
Aellopos ceculus MHNT CUT 2010 0 309 Diehl Sumatra female ventral.jpg, ''Aellopos ceculus'' ♀ △
]
Biology
Adults are on wing year round in Costa Rica. There are probably three main generations, with adults on wing from December to January, April to May and in September.
References
Aellopos
Moths described in 1777
Sphingidae of South America
Moths of North America
Taxa named by Pieter Cramer
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