Type species: Sphinx tancrei Staudinger, 1887.
A Palaearctic genus of seven species, two of which occur in the western half of the region. Very closely related to Sphingulus Staudinger, 1887 and Kentrochrysalis Staudinger, 1887 from the eastern Palaearctic.
IMAGO: Antennae short, slender, terminally hooked, with longer ciliae along basal half. Pilifer reduced to a tubercle and bearing a few bristles and scales (no scales in D. inexacta Walker, 1856). Tongue reduced, as are palpi. Tibiae without spines, but hind-tibia with two pairs of very reduced spurs. There is no mid-tarsal comb. Pulvillus and paronychium present, but paronychial lobes reduced.
Genitalia. In the male, uncus broad and short, triangularly narrowed at end, minutely sinuate; upperside scaled mesially. Gnathos with two short, straight processes. Aedeagus armed with an apical tooth, curving sinistro-laterad. There is no patch of modified scales on the inner surface of the valva; the latter small, but robust ventro-basally. Harpe large, with a broad ventro-distal process and three rounded dorsal lobes. In the female, the ostium bursae is large and surrounded by a feebly chitinized lamella; inner edge of latter armed with two processes.
OVUM: Ovoid, pale yellowish green.
LARVA: In those species in which it is known, very similar to Smerinthus but with a long, straight, granulose horn and a pale suffusion below each lateral stripe.
PUPA: Similar to Smerinthus. Proboscis fused to body. Cremaster elongate, with a pair of small apical spines and lateral spines.
HOSTPLANT FAMILY: Usually trees and shrubs of the Oleaceae.
GB: Ash Hawkmoth
Dolbina elegans elegans A. Bang-Haas, 1912, Dt. ent. Z. Iris 26: 229.Type locality: Iskenderun, 'northern Syria' [southern Turkey].
(Taxonomic note. There are no consistant differences between the genitalia and morphology of European, Turkish and Syrian examples. Thus subspecific status is not justified for the European population, previously referred to as subsp. steffensi.)
Holarctic; western Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Monocentric -- Syrian refuge.
Wingspan: 40--53mm. As illustrated. Very easily overlooked or confused with various other small moths when captured in a light-trap.
Found in light forest and scrubland in valleys with cultivation; in Israel and Jordan confined to riverine forests in damp canyons (Müller et al., 2005a & 2005b). The first European specimens were taken on the balcony of a tourist hotel at the Black Sea coastal resort of 'Sunny Beach', near Nessebar, Bulgaria (Soffner, 1959)!
April/May to early September in two or sometimes three broods. In Europe, mainly in July (Popescu-Gorj, 1971; Ganev, 1984), although in southern Bulgaria it is regularly taken in April (S. V. Beschkow, pers. comm.) as well as in July.
OVUM: Undescribed.
LARVA: Undescribed. All that appears to be known is that it is yellowish on hatching (Soffner, 1959).
Hostplants. Probably species of Fraxinus, but possibly also Olea, Syringa, Phillyrea and/or Ligustrum.
PUPA: Undescribed. Presumably the overwintering stage.
Unknown.
From the Ukraine (Nikolaev & Plyushch, 1994), Moldova (Plugaru, 1971; Dubatolov, [1999]), through eastern Romania (Popescu-Gorj, 1971), eastern and southern Bulgaria (Soffner, 1959; Ganev, 1984; S.V. Beschkow, pers. comm.), northern Greece, western and southern Turkey (de Freina, 1979) to northern Syria (Bang-Haas, 1912; Daniel, 1939), western Jordan (Müller et al., 2005a), Israel (Kernbach, 1959; Müller et al., 2005b), northern Iraq (Wiltshire, 1957) and northern Iran. (The distribution indicated given may represent ease of access to localities rather than actual distribution and the species may also occur in other areas.)
Extra-limital range. None.
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