''Xylophanes falco'' is a
moth of the family
Sphingidae.
Distribution
It is found from
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and
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 ...
north through
Mexico to southern
Arizona and western
Texas. It is generally found in oak woodland and along streamsides.
Description
The
wingspan is . Adults are similar to ''
Xylophanes monzoni
''Xylophanes monzoni'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the ...
'' but generally paler, with a less diffuse pattern and more falcate forewings. The abdomen has long, pale hair-like scales. The forewing upperside is pale brown-beige from the base to the apex with scattered black scales restricted to the leading edge anterior to the discal spot. The base of the wing has a pale purple suffusion and traces of two median lines running from the inner margin. There is a full complement of five dark brown postmedian and two submarginal lines, all sharply defined and converging to the apex. It is less contrastingly patterned than ''Xylophanes monzoni''. The hindwing upperside ground colour is pale brown and the median band consists of two thin, straight, dark brown lines. The submarginal band is present and of similar colour and width to the two median lines, but it is distinctly darker than the grey marginal band.
Xylophanes falco MHNT CUT 2010 0 318 Hidalgo del Parral Chihuahua Mexico female dorsal.jpg, Female dorsal
Xylophanes falco MHNT CUT 2010 0 318 Hidalgo del Parral Chihuahua Mexico female ventral.jpg, Female ventral
Flickr - ggallice - Xylophanes falco.jpg, Caterpillar
Ecology
The larvae possibly feed on ''
Bouvardia glaberrima
''Bouvardia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains about 50 species of evergreen herbs and shrubs native to Mexico and Central America, with one species extending into the southwestern United States ('' B. t ...
''. There is a single large eye on the thorax and six white circles down the side of the caterpillar. There are also extensive bands of white dots girdling the abdomen. Adults are on wing from June to September in Arizona and continuously in the tropics.
References
falco
Moths described in 1856
Moths of North America
{{Xylophanes-stub