NEPHELE HESPERA (Fabricius, 1775)

TAXONOMY

Sphinx hespera Fabricius, 1775, Syst. Ent.: 546. Type locality: "India orientali".

Synonym. Sphinx didyma Fabricius, 1775, Syst. Ent.: 543. Type locality: "India orientali".

ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Wingspan: 70--86mm. The silver markings on the wings can be present or absent in both sexes.

ADULT BIOLOGY

FLIGHT-TIME

China: vi (Yunnan); 19.x-xi (Hong Kong), 10.xi (Yunnan); 7.xii (Macau).

Kendrick (2002) states that this species may only be a vagrant or rare migrant to Hong Kong.

EARLY STAGES

OVUM: Pale green, slightly oval (1.4 x 1.6mm), shiny and smooth.

LARVA: Full-fed 70mm.

PUPA: 66mm.

Larval hostplants. Carissa carandas (Apocynaceae) in India (Bell & Scott, 1937).

PARASITOIDS

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Hubei (Lichuan); Sichuan (Xiushan); Yunnan (Mengzi; Laojun Shan, 2579m; nr. Yingjiang, Xima, 2080m; Pu'er); south Xizang/Tibet (Mutu, Namjagbarwa region, 850m; Zhangmu, 2200m; Yi'ong, 2700m; Nyalam, 2250m); Hong Kong (Lantau Island); Macau.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

From Afghanistan and Pakistan east across Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, the Andaman Islands, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, to southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Java. It has also been recorded from southern Papua New Guinea and the Dauan and Warraber Islands off the northern tip of Queensland, Australia.

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION