''Xylophanes ceratomioides'' 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. It is known from

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 ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, down into southern

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 ...

. Rare vagrants have been found up to southern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

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 86–96 mm. The outer margin of the forewing is slightly scalloped. There are long, narrow, whitish scales on the upperside of the abdomen. The base of the forewing upperside is dark, often almost black but with an off-white patch on the inner edge. The costa has several conspicuous subapical and apical black spots, the largest subapical spot is triangular with the inner point directed basally. The subbasal band of the hindwing upperside is off-white, divided medially into two patches by a longitudinal black band. Xylophanes ceratomioides MHNT CUT 2010 0 58 Guapimirim Brazil male dorsal.jpg, Male dorsal MHNT Xylophanes ceratomioides MHNT CUT 2010 0 58 Guapimirim Brazil male ventral.jpg, Male ventral MHNT Xylophanes ceratomioides MHNT CUT 2010 0 304 Guapimirim Brazil femal dorsal.jpg, Female dorsal MHNT Xylophanes ceratomioides MHNT CUT 2010 0 304 Guapimirim Brazil femal ventral.jpg, Female ventral MHNT

Biology

Adults are on wing year-round in Costa Rica. In Peru, there are at least three generations per year with adults on wing from January to February, June to July and October. The larvae feed on ''

Psychotria berteriana ''Psychotria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 1,582 species and is therefore one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The genus has a pantropical distribution and members of the genus are small understor ...

'', ''

Psychotria correae ''Psychotria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 1,582 species and is therefore one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The genus has a pantropical distribution and members of the genus are small understor ...

'', '' Psychotria microdon'' and ''

Hamelia patens ''Hamelia patens'' is a large perennial shrub or small tree in the family Rubiaceae, that is native to the American subtropics and tropics. Its range extends from Florida in the southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes D ...

''. They are generally very dark, but there is also a green morph. They have a small cream eye on each side and a lighter gray-brown patch around each spiracle.

References

External links

''Xylophanes ceratomioides''
Sphingidae of the Americas ceratomioides Moths described in 1867 Sphingidae of South America Moths of South America Taxa named by Coleman Townsend Robinson Taxa named by Augustus Radcliffe Grote {{Xylophanes-stub