Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic

MACROGLOSSUM FRITZEI Rothschild & Jordan, 1903

Female Macroglossum fritzei. Photo: © BMNH

Male Macroglossum fritzei. Photo: © BMNH

TAXONOMY

Macroglossum fritzei Rothschild & Jordan, 1903, Novit. zool. 9 (suppl.): 618 (key), 654. Type locality: [Japan,] Loo Choo Islands [Ryukyu Islands], Okinawa.

Synonym. Macroglossum hunanensis Chu & Wang, 1980, Acta zootaxon. sin. 5: 420. Type locality: China, Hunan, Heng Shan.

ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Resting Macroglossum fritzei, Hong Kong. Photo: © Roger Kendrick.

Resting Macroglossum fritzei, Japan. Photo: © Masamichi Furukawa.

ADULT BIOLOGY

Readily attracted to light at night and seldom flying during the day.

FLIGHT-TIME

China: i-xii (Hong Kong); v (Hunan); vi-viii (Guangdong); viii (Fujian). Japan: 1.vi (Ryukyu Archipelago); 10-4.viii (Ryukyu Archipelago); 13.vii-29.x (Honshu); vii (Kyushu; Ryukyu Archipelago); 28.x (Shikoku).

EARLY STAGES

OVUM: Pale green, almost spherical (1.3mm), and shiny.

LARVA: Newly hatched larvae are 3mm long, and olive green with a long black horn.

Full-grown larva of Macroglossum fritzei, Hong Kong, China. Photo: © David Mohn.

PUPA:

Larval hostplants. Morinda and Paederia (Rubiaceae). In Hong Kong, recorded from Morinda umbellata (David L. Mohn, pers. comm. 2002)

Paederia scandens, Beijing, China. Photo: © Tony Pittaway.

PARASITOIDS

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Hubei (Xinzhou); Hunan (Dayong; Heng Shan); Fujian (Guangze, 1200m); Guangdong (Lianping; Longtou Shan); Hong Kong (North Point); Hainan.

Japan: Honshu (Nashimoto; Shinshiro); Shikoku (Matsuyama); Kyushu (Hikosan); Ryukyu Archipelago (Amamioshima; Okinawa; Iriomoteshima; Yakushima).

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Southeastern China, central and southern Japan, Thailand and Borneo.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION

Return to Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic species list