''Coelonia fulvinotata'' 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 ...

first described by

Arthur Gardiner Butler Arthur Gardiner Butler F.L.S., F.Z.S. (27 June 1844 – 28 May 1925) was an English entomologist, arachnologist and ornithologist. He worked at the British Museum on the taxonomy of birds, insects, and spiders. Biography Arthur Gardiner Butl ...

in 1875. It is known from most habitats throughout the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

, from

the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

east to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and south to northern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. The length of the forewing is 52–55 mm for males and 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 101–111 mm. The body and wings are brown, with two bright pink dorsal hair tufts at the base of the abdomen. The forewings are mottled and variegated with lighter brown and dark indistinct wavy lines. The hindwings are darker, with a black basal patch surrounded by a large ochreous yellow patch. Females are larger and darker. The subapical area of forewings is much paler and more conspicuous. The larvae feed on ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

'', ''

Fraxinus floribunda ''Fraxinus floribunda'' is a species of ash native to South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. It is known from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Assam, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, the Ryukyu Islands, and parts of China (Guan ...

'', ''

Clerodendrum heterophyllum ''Clerodendrum'' is a genus of flowering plants formerly placed in the family Verbenaceae, but now considered to belong to the Lamiaceae (mint) family. Its common names include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart. It is currently classified ...

'', ''

Dahlia variabilis ''Dahlia pinnata'' (''D.'' × ''pinnata'') is a species in the genus ''Dahlia'', family Asteraceae, with the common name garden dahlia. It is the type species of the genus and is widely cultivated. Description ''Dahlia pinnata'' is a perennial ...

'' and ''

Duranta plumieri ''Duranta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It contains 17 species of shrubs and small trees that are native from southern Florida to Mexico and South America. They are commonly cultivated as hedges and ornament ...

''. Adults are pollinators of some species of

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...

in Madagascar, including ''

Adansonia za ''Adansonia za'' is a species of baobab in the genus ''Adansonia'' of the family Malvaceae (previously included in the Bombacaceae). It was originally named in French as . Common names in Malagasy include , , , , , and , the last of which giv ...

''.Baum, D.A., 1995, A Systematic Revision of Adansonia (Bombacaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden , 1995, Vol. 82, No. 3 (1995), pp. 440-471

Subspecies

*''Coelonia fulvinotata fulvinotata'' *''Coelonia fulvinotata nigrescens'' Basquin, 1992 (São Tomé and Príncipe)

References

Acherontiini Moths of Africa Moths of the Comoros Moths of Mauritius Moths of Réunion Moths described in 1875 {{Sphinginae-stub