Sphinx fuciformis Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1: 493. Type locality: Europe.
Wingspan: 38--45mm. Distinguished from H. tityus by a much broader marginal band to the wings; forewing discal cell divided longitudinally by a fold. More variable than H. tityus: in f. musculus Wallengren, all olive green coloration is replaced by reddish grey; in f. heynei Bartel, black as opposed to normal brown is the dominant colour of the central abdominal belt.
Diurnal. Unknown in China, but in northern Europe, frequents the Lonicera-entwined edges of sunny glades in open woodland. Farther south, displays a marked preference for sand- and chalk hills lightly overgrown with conifers and shrubby honeysuckles, such as L. xylosteum and L. tatarica, where it is often extremely abundant. Generally avoids open meadows, preferring to fly along woodland margins; however, in Turkey and the Crimea it often breeds in meadows and gardens.
In behaviour, this species closely resembles H. tityus: active by day, usually from about 10.00 hours, it avidly searches along forest edges for flowers. It is in such situations that courtship and pairing take place; the female then takes flight in search of Lonicera growing in partial shade on which to lay her eggs. If disturbed at any time, this species flies off at great speed.
China: vi (Xinjiang, ??Tchuja Valley); 1-16.vi (Xinjiang, Tian Shan). Russia: 27.v (Altai, Barnaul); 3.vi-23.vi (Siberia, Novosibirsk); 11.vi (Altai); 11.vi-16.vii (Khabarovsk Kray); 25.vi-17.vii (Siberia, Tomsk area); vi (Siberia, Irkutsk); vii (Siberia, Lake Baikal, 800m).
OVUM: Pale green, almost sperical (1.0 x 1.1mm), shiny and smooth. Laid singly on the underside of the leaves of its hostplant; plants growing in either deep shade or in the open are generally avoided.
LARVA: Full-fed 40--45mm. On hatching, the 3mm-long, whitish yellow larva rests along the midrib on the underside of a leaf, occasionally nibbling oval holes in the latter. Most feed at night, resting during daylight hours in a typical sphinx-like attitude.
In the final instar body smooth; horn tapering evenly to a sharp point, slightly down-curved. Colour of head bluish-green. Body bright green, paler on the dorsum, with a darker green dorsal stripe. There is also a subdorsal yellow stripe from segment 2 to base of horn, and a narrow yellow subspiracular stripe. Spiracles lying on small-to-large reddish-brown patches; venter reddish-brown. Horn lilac at base, purplish-brown in the middle, dark brown at tip; legs, prolegs and claspers reddish-brown. Some larvae have extensive reddish spots and blotches bordering the dorso-lateral line and spiracles and this, combined with a very rough, tubercled skin, camouflages the larva well. At this stage it generally sits on a twig. If disturbed or alarmed, it will drop to the ground, although not as readily as H. tityus.
PUPA: 23--25mm. Similar to that of H. tityus: blackish brown with glossy highlights and brown, intersegmental cuticle. Tapering somewhat sharply frontad. Surface slightly rough and shiny. Cremaster a large, triangular, flattened spike. Formed on the ground in a loosely spun silken cocoon interwoven with debris. The overwintering stage.
Larval hostplants. Unknown in China, but in Europe the major hostplants are species of shrubby and climbing Lonicera. Minor hostplants include Deutzia, Galium, Knautia and Symphoricarpos (Pittaway, 1993), while in Turkey, the main hostplant is Cephalaria procera (de Freina, 1979).
Unknown in China.
China: Xinjiang (Altai Mountains, ??Tchuja Valley; Tian Shan, 1300m; Yining; Shihezi area).
Russia: Altai (Yailyu; Barnaul); Siberia (Tomsk area; Novosibirsk; Lake Baikal, 800m; Irkutsk; Yakutia; Magadan; Bakchar); Transbaikalia; Amurskaya; Khabarovsk Kray (Slavyanka; Solnechnyy; Nikolayevsk-na-Amure); Primorskiy Kray; Sakhalin Island (Chistyakov & Belyaev, 1984).
'Subsp.' ganssuensis Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 from Xizang Province/Tibet is Hemaris affinis (Bremer, 1861), a distinct species. Records from South Korea (Kim et al., 1982; Park at al., 1999) appear to be misidentifications of Hemaris affinis.
Widespread across the Palaearctic Region (Pittaway, 1993), from the Atlas Mountains of north Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and southern England, eastward to Primorskiy Kray (Danner et al., 1998) and Sakhalin Island (Chistyakov & Belyaev, 1984).
East of the Mediterranean, H. fuciformis reaches its southern limit in Turkey, the Kopet Dag Mountains of Turkmenistan, the Zagros Mountains of Iran, northern Afghanistan, northwest India (Himachal Pradesh), the Tian Shan of Tajikistan and China, and the Altai Mountains (Danner et al., 1998). Danner et al. (1998) recorded a single male from Fars in southwest Iran.
Holarctic; western Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Polycentric -- Atlantomediterranean, Pontomediterranean and Caspian refugia, with probably a small population in the northern Iranian refuge.
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