''Daphnis hypothous'', the jade 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 ...

described by

Pieter Cramer Pieter Cramer (21 May 1721 (baptized) – 28 September 1776), was a wealthy Dutch merchant in linen and Spanish wool, remembered as an entomologist. Cramer was the director of the Zealand Society, a scientific society located in Flushing, and a mem ...

in 1780. It is known from

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 ...

, southern and northern

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 ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, southern

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 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is a rare vagrant to the

Western Palaearctic The Western Palaearctic or Western Palearctic is part of the Palaearctic realm, one of the eight biogeographic realms dividing the Earth's surface. Because of its size, the Palaearctic is often divided for convenience into two, with Europe, North ...

realm A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Etym ...

. During the last hundred years a number have been discovered within the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and one was even found in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

late in the 20th century but this was probably imported as a pupa with cargo.

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 86–120 mm. It is a very fast flyer and is attracted to both sweet-smelling flowers and light. It differs from ''

Daphnis nerii ''Daphnis nerii'', the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Distribution ''Daphnis nerii'' is a large hawk-moth found in wi ...

'' in having the head and collar uniformly dark purplish brown. Thorax and first two abdominal segments are dark green with a white fringe to the first segment. Other abdominal segments are dark olive green with the streaks and spots as in ''D. nerii''. Wings are similar to ''D. nerii'' but very much darker on both dorsal and ventral side. A white spot is present at the apex of forewing and at the end of cell of forewing ventral side. Larva is green with yellow dots at its sides. There is a dark dorsal line, a subdorsal purple-red band, edged with yellow on thoracic somites and a blue

ocellus A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

on the third somite. Horn is purplish brown with white tubercles. Before changing to pupa, the larva becomes blotched with dark red. Larvae have been recorded feeding on

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...

species, including ''

Cinchona ''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...

'', ''

Wendlandia ''Wendlandia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in northeastern tropical Africa, and from tropical and subtropical Asia to Queensland. Species * '' Wendlandia aberrans'' F.C.How * '' Wendlandia acuminata'' Cow ...

'' and ''

Uncaria ''Uncaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 40 species.''Uncaria'' At: World Checklist of Rubiaceae At: Kew Gardens Website. (see ''External links'' below). Their distribution is pantropical, with most speci ...

'' species in India. Most

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

s are green with a brown backward-curving tailhorn and a pair of white or red and yellow dorso-lateral stripes. Some instars have various coloured markings along the sides, including a blue eyespot on each side of the metathorax. The final instar is reddish brown. Caterpillars can be found on ''

Breonia ''Breonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Rubiaceae. It is Endemism, endemic to Madagascar. Most species are trees, rarely shrubs. Species *''Breonia boivinii''(species:Breonia boivinii, Wikispecies) George Darb ...

'', ''

Ixora ''Ixora'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is the only genus in the tribe Ixoreae. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 544 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas ...

'', ''

Pavetta ''Pavetta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 360 species of trees, evergreen shrubs and sub-shrubs. It is found in woodlands, grasslands and thickets in sub-tropical and tropical Africa and Asia. The plan ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Alstonia ''Alstonia'' is a widespread genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, of the family Apocynaceae. It was named by Robert Brown in 1811, after Charles Alston (1685–1760), professor of botany at Edinburgh from 1716 to 1760. The type species ''Alsto ...

'' plants. Daphnis hypothous hypothous MHNT CUT 2010 0 512 Ambon island Indonesia male dorsal.jpg, ''Daphnis hypothous hypothous'' ♂ Daphnis hypothous hypothous MHNT CUT 2010 0 512 Ambon island Indonesia male ventral.jpg, ''Daphnis hypothous hypothous'' ♂ △ Daphnis hypothous hypothous MHNT CUT 2010 0 291 Ambon island Indonesia female dorsal.jpg, ''Daphnis hypothous hypothous'' ♀ Daphnis hypothous hypothous MHNT CUT 2010 0 291 Ambon island Indonesia female ventral.jpg, ''Daphnis hypothous hypothous'' ♀ △

Subspecies

*''Daphnis hypothous hypothous'' (Indonesia including the Andaman Islands and Seram) *''Daphnis hypothous crameri'' Eitschberger & Melichar, 2010 (South and South-East Asia)

Gallery

Daphnis hypothous (Sphingidae).jpg, Daphnis hypothous Laos 1.jpg, from Laos Hawkmoth Caterpillar (Daphnis hypothous) (6856613431).jpg, Caterpillar Daphnis hypothous Laos 3.jpg, Daphnis hypothous crameri (Singapore) (R. Kendrick) L3 or L4.jpg, ssp. ''crameri'' Daphnis hypothous crameri (Indonesia, Sulawesi, Battang) (A. Sandi and G. Saunders) yellow and brown form.jpg, yellow-brown form

Related species

*''

'', white spot is absent at the apex of forewing.

References

External links

''Daphnis hypothous hypothous''
Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic {{Taxonbar , from=Q138266 Daphnis (moth) Moths described in 1780 Moths of Japan