HYLES TITHYMALI MAURETANICA (Staudinger, 1871)

GB: Barbary Spurge Hawkmoth, F: Sphinx du Tithymale

Deilephila mauretanica Staudinger, 1871, in Staudinger & Wocke, Cat. Lepid. eur. Faunengeb.: 36.

Type locality: Mauritania [Morocco and Algeria].

(Taxonomic note. de Freina (1994) placed mauretanica as a subspecies of H. euphorbiae on the basis of minor morphological and behavioural differences, overlooking the many more characteristics that mauretanica has in common with tithymali.)


BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION

Holarctic; western Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Monocentric -- Afroeremic refuge as part of a mauretanica/deserticola complex.


ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Male Hyles tithymali mauretanica, Algeria

Wingspan: 60--85mm. Highly variable, often resembling the nominate subspecies but tending to become smaller and paler towards desert areas.


ADULT BIOLOGY

Frequents dry, rocky slopes and, in more open areas, dry, sandy river-beds with a good supply of Euphorbia.


FLIGHT-TIME

Trivoltine; April/May, June/July and August/September.


EARLY STAGES

OVUM: Identical to that of H. euphorbiae.

LARVA: Full-fed, 70--80mm. Almost identical to that of subsp. tithymali and subsp. deserticola. Generally, the colours are less bright than either of these subspecies, the pure white eye-spots are slightly larger and are set in a slightly larger black surround. Examination of a large number of full-fed larvae, both in the wild and preserved in the Natural History Museum, London, clearly shows the relationship of this subspecies to subsp. tithymali and subsp. deserticola; it is quite distinct from H. euphorbiae.


Full-grown larvae of Hyles tithymali mauretanica, Middle Atlas, Morocco. Photo: © John Tennent.

In a year with good rainfall, larvae can be very abundant from April to October. Very intolerant of temperatures in excess of 36 degrees C (de Freina, 1994).

Hostplants. Herbaceous Euphorbia spp., especially E. paralias, E. terracina, E. characias, E. pinifolia and E. nicaeensis (Rungs, 1981).

PUPA: Morphologically indistinguishable from that of H. euphorbiae. Overwinters as a pupa.


DISTRIBUTION

Restricted to the mountains of North Africa from Morocco (Rungs, 1981; Speidel & Hassler, 1989) to Tunisia (Pittaway, 1983b); in desert areas, merges with subsp. deserticola to form a cline.

Extra-limital range. None.

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