''Xylophanes crotonis'' 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 first described by Francis Walker in 1870.

Distribution

It is found in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

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 ...

and south to

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 ...

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 . the larvae are green, turquoise or purplish with yellow dots. They are without eyespots in the second

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 ...

. Sphinx moth caterpillar (Xylophanes crotonis).jpg, caterpillar Sphinx moth caterpillar (Xylophanes crotonis) head.jpg, caterpillar Xylophanes crotonis MHTN CUT 2010 0 53 La Mucuy Venezuela dorsal.jpg, Male, dorsal view Xylophanes crotonis MHTN CUT 2010 0 53 La Mucuy Venezuela ventral.jpg, Male, ventral view Xylophanes crotonis MHTN CUT 2010 0 79 Polin Ecuador female dorsal.jpg, Female dorsal view Xylophanes crotonis MHTN CUT 2010 0 79 Polin Ecuador female ventral.jpg, Female ventral view

Biology

Adults are on wing year round in Costa Rica. The larvae feed on ''

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 ...

'', ''

Palicourea padifolia ''Palicourea padifolia'' is a species from the genus Palicourea ''Palicourea'' is a plant genus in the family Rubiaceae. It contains about 200 species, which range from shrubs to small trees, and is distributed throughout the New World tropics ...

'', '' Palicourea salicifolia'', ''

Coussarea austin-smithii ''Coussarea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is found from southern Mexico to tropical America. There are about 120 species. They are shrubs and trees with oppositely arranged leaves and large, showy white flow ...

'', '' Coussarea caroliana'' and probably other Rubiaceae species. They have also been recorded on ''

Rottboellia cochinchinensis ''Rottboellia cochinchinensis'' is a species of grass known by the common names Itchgrass,Holm, L. G., Plucknett, D. L., Pancho, J. V., & Herberger, J. P. (1977). The world’s worst weeds. The World’s Worst Weeds.Smith, M. C., Reeder, R. H., & ...

''.

References

External links

''Xylophanes crotonis''
''Sphingidae of the Americas'' crotonis Moths described in 1856 Moths of South America {{Xylophanes-stub