''Isognathus leachii'' 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 is known from southern

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and from

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

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 about 85 mm for males and 94 mm for females. There are indistinct bands on the upperside of the abdomen and an elongate patch on the forewing upperside. The inner edge of the dark brown marginal band of the hindwing upperside is distinctly and almost regularly dentate and not constant in width. Isognathus leachii MHNT CUT 2010 0 350 Mato Grosso Brazil female dorsal.jpg, Female dorsal Isognathus leachii MHNT CUT 2010 0 350 Mato Grosso Brazil female ventral.jpg, Female ventral

Biology

There are probably multiple generations per year. The larvae have been recorded feeding on ''

Allamanda cathartica ''Allamanda cathartica'', commonly called golden trumpet, common trumpetvine, and yellow allamanda, is a species of flowering plant of the genus ''Allamanda'' in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to Brazil. This plant is cited in ''Flora Brasi ...

'' and '' Allamanda blancheti''. They have long tails and are very colourful, suggesting they are unpalatable to birds.

References

Isognathus Moths described in 1823 Taxa named by William John Swainson Moths of Central America Sphingidae of South America {{Dilophonotini-stub