Sphinx ligustri Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1: 490. Type locality: not stated [Sweden].
Note. Eitschberger & Lukhtanov (1996) described Sphinx ligustri zolotuhini from Kazakhstan, stating that it could be "differentiated from the nominate form by its smaller size and the total absence of any brown tones, especially on the forewing uppersides. The area below the costal vein of the forewings is pure white, more or less strongly dusted with black scales. The fringes of the hindwing are black and not dark brown as in the nominate form". In fact, this description matches that of Sphinx ligustri amurensis. However, Kitching & Cadiou (2000) argued that there are no discontinuities in either distribution or habitus between this latter taxon and nominotypical S. ligustri. So, for example, specimens from Shihezi and Ürümqi, China, fall well within the range of normal variation displayed by European populations of S. ligustri. Consequently, they concluded that there was no justification for recognizing subspecies within S. ligustri.
Wingspan: 64--100mm; generally smaller than in Europe. Difficult to confuse with any other Palaearctic hawkmoth. Exhibits great variation: pink entirely replaced by grey (f. grisea Closs); pink replaced by white on the hindwings and abdomen only (f. albescens Tutt); abdominal 'ribs' yellow (f. lutescens Tutt). Numerous other minor variations occur in which pink, brown or black pigments are extensive. In the Hungarian Depression, a pale form occurs which was once thought to be a distinct species (S. spiraeae Esper, [1806]), with the larva feeding on Spiraea; a similar and smaller pale form occurs in the drier regions of Central Asia (Eitschberger & Lukhtanov, 1996). There is no sexual dimorphism, although most females are generally larger than males.
Common in temperate woodlands and riverine habitats across the northern half (Loess Plateau) of Shaanxi.
China: 8-20.vi (Xinjiang; Nei Mongol); 16-25.vi (Jilin); vii (Nei Mongol; Heilongjiang); vii (Jilin); 26.vii-2.viii (Beijing); viii (Heilongjiang). South Korea: 2.viii (unstated locality). Russia: 24.v-25.vii (Khabarovsk Kray); 5-30.vi (Siberia, Tomsk); 8-29.vi (Primorskiy Kray); 20.vi (Altai); 26-29.vi (Siberia, Novosibirsk area); 27-30.vi (Amurskaya); 3.vii (Siberia, Irkutsk area); 10.vii (Transbaikalia); 4-21.vii (Khabarovsk Kray); 26-29.vii (Altai); 12.vii (Primorskiy Kray). Japan: 6.vi-18.viii (Hokkaido).
In northern China there are one or two generations a year, with adults flying from May until August (Yang, 1978).
Park et al. (1999) give early July until late October as the flight period in Korea.
OVUM: Pale green, elliptical (2.08 x 1.50mm), dull but smooth. Up to 200 eggs are laid by each female on the underside of the leaves of the hostplant, usually singly, although two or three together are not uncommon. This stage lasts from 9--20 days, depending on temperature.
LARVA: Full-fed 80--90mm. Dichromatic: usually green; also a rare purple form.
On hatching, the larva measures approximately 5mm and is pale yellow with a long dark horn. The eggshell is not eaten. With feeding, the primary colour changes to luminescent green, speckled with yellow tubercles. After the first moult, lateral streaks appear as a series of dots, their final white and purple colours not developing until the third instar; the yellow tubercles disappear in the last. Variation is not great, but some larvae have darker than normal side stripes, often complemented by a second, lower purple one. Others may have two or more horns in series, each successively smaller. In others, occasionally the primary body colour of green may be replaced by purple, but this form is very rare.
Young larvae rest beneath the midrib of a leaf, but when fully grown they assume a typical upside-down sphinx-like attitude, clinging to a petiole or stem by their anal and last two prolegs, with the thoracic segments hunched. Specimens feeding on Ligustrum or Syringa are mostly to be found clinging to stripped shoots within two metres of the ground, as are also many of those on Fraxinus, with saplings being preferred to mature trees.
The larval stage lasts between four and seven weeks, after which the green colour is replaced dorsally by purplish brown before the larva descends in search of a suitable pupation site.
PUPA: 45--50mm. Rich, glossy brown. Pupation normally takes place in soft, loamy soil up to 10cm deep, in a hollowed-out chamber lined with a few strands of silk. The overwintering stage.
Larval hostplants. Recorded in China on Fraxinus, Ligustrum, Philadelphus and Syringa (Yang, 1978; Chu & Wang, 1980). However, a record from Citrus is certainly erroneous.
Recorded in Amurskaya, Russia, on Syringa reticulata subsp. amurensis and Vaccinium uliginosum (Streltzov, Osipov & Malikova, 2003).
Recorded in Korea on Ligustrum obtusifolium, Syringa reticulata, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Spiraea prunifolia, S. thunbergii and Vaccinium (Park et al., 1999).
Elsewhere, S. ligustri is found on Aquifoliaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Oleaceae and Rosaceae, with occasional records from several other families.
Unknown for China.
China: Xinjiang (Altai Mountains; Shihezi; Ürümqi; Yining/Gulja); Nei Mongol (Zalantun/Butha Qi; Chifeng/Ulanhad, Daguangdingzishan, 2061m; Ergun Youqi); Heilongjiang (Hailin); Jilin (Jiaohe, Lafa Shan); Liaoning; Beijing (Sanbao; Baihua Shan); Shaanxi (north).
Mongolia: ??'Somon'.
North Korea: South Hamgyong Prov. (Pulgaemi ridge above Pukchong City, 1500m).
South Korea: Seoul (Seoul; Cheongyang-ri); Kyonggi Prov. (Suwon; Suri-san; Gwangleung; Cheonma-san; Myungji-san; Asan Bay; Pyungtaek); Kangwon Prov. (Nochu-san; Chiak-san; Hoengseong-dam; Donghae; Chuncheon; Jiam-ri; Bongmyung-ri; Gyebang-san; Hongcheon; Dunnae); North Chungchong Prov. (Chupungryung; Minjuji-san; Songni-san; Wolak-san); South Chungchong Prov. (Gyeryong-san); North Cholla Prov. (Jiri-san; Muju; Namwon); North Kyongsang Prov. (Sobaek-san); South Kyongsang Prov. (Gibaek-san; Hamyang; Yeohang-san; Muhak-san; Sancheong; Uiryong; Hadong; Hapcheon).
Japan: Northern and central Hokkaido (Kushiro; Azuma).
Russia: Altai (Artybash; Cherga; Ust-Kamenogorsk); Siberia (Tomsk; Kiree'sk; Alaevo; Karasuk; Chingisy; Kourak; Kharat); Tuva ASSR (Turan); Buryatia (Dzhirga; Istok; Onokhoy village); Transbaikalia (Ur'upino Piquet; Nizhnii Tsasuchei; 20 km N Chita; Mogocha; Argunsk; Shara; Sokhondinskii Nature Reserve (Agutsa, Nizhnii Bukukun); Bogomyakovo; Undino-Posel'e; Budymkan); Amurskaya (Belogorsk; Zeiskii nature reserve; Uril area; Blagoveshchensk; Zeya; Norsk; Pashkovo, and from many other locations); Yevreyskaya (Bastak); Khabarovsk Kray (Bolshekhekhtsyrskii nature reserve, Khabarovsk suburbs; Slavyanka; Komsomolsk-na-Amure; Pivan; Kiselevka; Mariinskoe; Arkhangelskoe; Nikolaevsk-na-Amure); Primorskiy Kray (Ussurysk; Khasan; Narva; Teplyi Klyuch; Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve; Novovladimirovka; near Kalinovka; near Zanadvorovka); Sakhalin Island; Kurile Islands.
Found throughout the Palaearctic Region, from the Iberian Peninsula, British Isles (but not Ireland or Scotland) and southern Scandinavia, through Russia and the Central Asian Republics, to Amurskaya (Streltzov, Osipov & Malikova, 2003), Primorskiy Kray, the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido. S. ligustri occurs in the area south of the boreal coniferous forest zone and, in central Asia, north of the arid steppes.
Holarctic; Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Polycentric -- Pontomediterranen and Atlantomediterranean subsections of the Mediterranean refuge, as well as the Manchurian refugium.
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