ELIBIA DOLICHUS (Westwood, 1847) -- Large banded hawkmoth

Female Elibia dolichus. Photo: © NHMUK Male Elibia dolichus. Photo: © NHMUK

TAXONOMY

Sphinx (Choerocampa) dolichus Westwood, 1847, Cabinet oriental Ent.: [61], pl. 30, fig. 1. Type locality: [Bangladesh,] Silhet [Sylhet].

Synonym. Sphinx dolichus Westwood, 1847.


ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Wingspan: 120--146mm. Forewing upperside with five oblique postmedian lines, first and fifth strongly marked, the remainder weak; all but first sometimes accentuated by vein-dots; discal spot large, black with white centre. Hindwing upperside bluish-grey over basal half; distal half dark brown. Upperside of thorax and abdomen with a strong median longitudinal cream line. Abdomen underside white, with orange-brown or brown median spots on proximal sternites.

In the male genitalia, uncus slightly narrowed medially, apex truncate with rounded angles. Gnathos as long as uncus, strongly compressed, broad vertically, ventral line strongly curved dorsad in lateral view, the apex rounded in dorsal view. Valve with large tapering (not truncate) stridulatory scales. Harpe short, just a rather thin ridge, truncate distally and weakly angled dorsally. Aedeagus nearly symmetrical, both left and right lobes of apical process denticulate on edges and surface, denticulation of the left continued onto the body of the aedeagus.


Adult Elibia dolichus, Thailand. Photo: © Ian Kitching

ADULT BIOLOGY


FLIGHT-TIME


EARLY STAGES

OVUM:

LARVA: Three stages figured by Piepers (1897); a round dorsal eye-spot on fourth segment; horn curved frontad in earlier stages, reduced to a button-like prominence in last stage.


Final instar, brown form larva of Elibia dolichus (and earlier stages), Indonesia. Image: Piepers, 1897. Fourth instar, green form larva of Elibia dolichus, Khao Sok National Park, Thailand, 2018. Photo: © Chris Khaosok. Final instar, green form larva of Elibia dolichus, Bintulu Div., Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo: © Leong Tzi Ming Final instar, brown form larva of Elibia dolichus, Menglun, Yunnan, China, 31.i.2019. Photo: © He JiBai. Final instar, brown form larva of Elibia dolichus, Menglun, Yunnan, China, 31.i.2019. Photo: © He JiBai.

PUPA:


Pupa of Elibia dolichus, Bintulu Div., Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo: © Leong Tzi Ming Pupa of Elibia dolichus, Khao Sok National Park, Thailand, 2018. Photo: © Chris Khaosok.

Larval hostplants. Saurauia, Leea, Cayratia and Tetrastigma (Inoue, Kennett & Kitching, [1996] 1997).


PARASITOIDS


LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Yunnan (Gaoligong Shan); Guangdong; Hainan.


GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Nepal, Bhutan, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos (Spitsyn, Burchalovskaia & Spitsyna, 2022), southern China, central Vietnam (Le & Vu, 2024), Malaysia (Peninsular, Sarawak, Sabah), Indonesia (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java) to the Philippines (Palawan Island) (Inoue, 1996).


Global distribution of Elibia dolichus. Map: © NHMUK.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION



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© A. R. Pittaway & I. J. Kitching (Natural History Museum, London)