GB: Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoth, F: Sphinx Bourdon, D: Hummelschwärmer, RU: Brazhnik Shmelevidnyi zhimolostnyi, S: Humlelik Dagsvärmare, NL: Glasvleugelige Pijlstaart, CZ: Dlouhozobka ehraztavcová, H: dongószender, E: cristalina borde estrecho
Sphinx fuciformis Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1: 493.Type locality: Europe.
(Taxonomic notes. (i) H. fuciformis jordani from Morocco and Algeria is not tenable as identical populations can be found in the montane coniferous forests of southern Spain, central Greece and Turkey. However, all these populations may to be related and may represent the western and eastern remnants of a population which occurred right across North Africa during the last ice age.
(ii) The species described in Eitschberger et al. (2005) as Hemaris molli (a female from near Ibid, northern Jordan) looks superficially like H. fuciformis, although the illustrated example lacks the dividing line of scales in the forewing cell; however, a longitudinal fold is present. Intriguingly, the corresponding genitalial preparation is close to that of Hemaris radians (Walker, 1856) from the eastern Palaearctic. The exact relationship between these taxa still needs to be clarified.)
Holarctic; western Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Polycentric -- Atlantomediterranean and Pontomediterranean refugia.
Wingspan: 38--48mm. Distinguished from H. tityus by a much broader marginal band to the wings; forewing discal cell divided longitudinally by a fold in most examples. 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. 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. It was formerly also abundant in many marginal areas (Tatchell, [1926]), but modern practices of woodland management have severely reduced its numbers. Generally avoids open meadows, preferring to fly along woodland margins or rides; however, in Turkey and the Crimea it often breeds in meadows and gardens.
In Morocco, frequents damp montane forest and scrub, especially areas of deciduous oak (Quercus spp.) with patches of Lonicera growing on the forest floor.
In behaviour, this species closely resembles H. tityus: active by day, usually from about 10.00 hours, it avidly searches along rides and forest edges for the flowers of Rhododendron, Silene, Ajuga, Lychnis and Pulmonaria. Some may even venture into gardens to be seen at Syringa and Phlox. 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.
Bivoltine throughout its southern range. In northern Europe, late May to mid-June, with a partial second brood in August; a single generation in June is normal for the mid Urals (Eversmann, 1844), Tian Shan (Grum-Grshimailo, 1890) and higher altitudes in Bulgaria (Ganev, 1984). In the southern Urals, from mid May until early July (Nupponen & Fibiger, 2002).
Bivoltine in Morocco during April/May and June/July.
In October 1994, several adults were observed at Nicotiana blossom in Suffolk, England (Hagget, 1995). These may have been part of an attempt at a partial third brood.
OVUM: Small (1.1 x 1.0mm), pale glossy green, spherical. Laid singly on the underside of the leaves of its hostplant; plants growing in either deep shade or in the open are 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. Fully grown, some have reddish spots and blotches bordering the dorso-lateral line and spiracles which, combined with a very rough, tubercled skin, camouflage the larva well. At this stage it generally sits under a twig. If disturbed or alarmed, it will drop to the ground, although not as readily as H. tityus.
In some years brown (illustrated) or golden larval forms can be found, although this is rare. In 1999, 5-10% of larvae near Toulon, France, were so coloured (J.M. Bompar, pers. comm.).
Occurs from mid-June until early August over central and northern Europe, but from May until September farther south.
Major Hostplants. Lonicera spp. in northern Europe, particularly L. periclymenum; in central and southern parts of its range, the shrubby L. nigra, L. xylosteum and L. tatarica are favoured.
Minor Hostplants. Symphoricarpos, Galium, Deutzia and Knautia; in Turkey mainly Cephalaria procera (de Freina, 1979).
PUPA: 23--25mm. Similar to that of H. tityus: blackish brown with glossy highlights and brown, intersegmental cuticle. Formed on the ground in a loosely spun silken cocoon interwoven with debris. The overwintering stage.
Ichneumonidae: Amblyjoppa fuscipennis (Wesmael); Braconidae: Cotesia coryphe (Nixon); Tachinidae: Tachina praeceps Meigen.
Similar to H. tityus, but confined to mountain refugia in southern and central parts of the Iberian Peninsula (Gomez Bustillo & Fernandez-Rubio, 1976; Pérez De-Gregorio et al., 2001), including at 1250m in the Sierra de la Yedra mountains, Granada Province, southern Spain (Rambur, 1942; Perez Lopez, 1989), and at Abacete and Guadalajara (Aistleitner & Aistleitner, 1998): it is present farther north in Navarra Province, but rare (Cifuentes, 1997). Otherwise, from Spain through Europe to the Ukraine (Plyushch & Sheshurak, 1997), Crimea (Efetov & Budashkin, 1990), Urals, northern Kazakhstan (Danner, Eitschberger & Surholt, 1998; Dubatolov, [1999]), western Siberia (Eversmann, 1844; Izerskiy, 1999) and the Altai Mountains (Zolotarenko, Petrova & Shiryaev, 1978; Izerskiy, 1999). Also central Greece, northern Turkey (Daniel, 1932; Daniel, 1939; de Freina, 1979), the Caucasus, northern Afghanistan (Ebert, 1969) and the Tian Shan of Tajikistan (Alpheraky, 1882; Grum-Grshimailo, 1890; Derzhavets, 1984). Absent from Ireland (Lavery, 1991), Scotland (Gilchrist, 1979), northern Scandinavia and Arctic Russia; however, recorded as far north as Izhma in european Russia (Tatarinov, Sedykh & Dolgin, 2003), as well as from Sardinia and Sicily.
There is also an isolated population confined to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria (Rougeot & Viette, 1978; Rungs, 1981).
Extra-limital range. From the Altai Mountains, Pamirs, Hindu Kush and north-west Pakistan (Bell & Scott, 1937) eastwards across southern Siberia (Eversmann, 1844; Zolotarenko, Petrova & Shiryaev, 1978; Izerskiy, 1999) and the Transbaikal area to the Russian Far East (Izerskiy, 1999), and Sakhalin Island (Chistyakov & Belyaev, 1984).
Records from South Korea (Kim et al., 1982; Kim, Tshistjakov & Kwon, 1999) are misidentifications of Hemaris affinis (Bremer, 1861), a distinct species occurring in Japan, the Russian Far East and northeastern China (Chu & Wang, 1980b).
Southern Turkey, northern and western Iran, and western Turkmenistan as H. fuciformis syra (Daniel, 1939). 'Subsp.' ganssuensis Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 from Xizang Province/Tibet is Hemaris affinis.
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