''Xylophanes cthulhu'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from lowland rainforest 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 ...

and

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 ...

. The wingspan is 76–82 mm. It is similar to '' Xylophanes neoptolemus'' but distinguishable by the overall brighter colour and the more acutely falcate tip of the forewing, a pure black basal area to the hindwing and a golden yellow band between the first and fourth postmedian lines on the forewing underside Adults are on wing year-round in Costa Rica. The larvae feed on '' Ludwigia'' species. They have a snake-like appearance. The head and the three thoracic segments can be retracted into abdominal segment one, which is swollen and adorned with a pair of light-ringed grey eye-spots.

References

cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...

Moths described in 2008 {{Xylophanes-stub