AMBULYX SEMIPLACIDA MONTANA Cadiou & Kitching, 1990 -- Mountain gliding hawkmoth

TAXONOMY

Ambulyx montana Cadiou & Kitching, 1990, Lambillionea 90(4): 14. Type locality: Thailand, Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon National Park, checkpoint, 3.iv.1987, 1700m.

Note. Synonymized with Ambulyx semiplacida as a subspecies by Haxaire & Melichar, 2023, European Ent., 15(3+4): 120.

ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Male similar to Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana but upperside forewing colour paler grey and more uniform. Subbasal black spot on forewing upperside variable in size, smaller on average than in Ambulyx semiplacida semiplacida. Forewing and hindwing upperside patterns paler and cleaner than in Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana. Forewing and hindwing underside ground colour ochreous-yellow (Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).

Male genitalia very similar to Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana but gnathos weakly bilobed, dorsal lobe of sacculus and harpe longer and more slender (Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).

ADULT BIOLOGY

Frequents high elevation evergreen broad-leaved forest (Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).

FLIGHT-TIME

China: 4-21.v (Yunnan); 25.vi (Yunnan).

EARLY STAGES

OVUM: Unrecorded.

LARVA:

Photos: Larvae of Ambulyx species from China. (A) Ambulyx moorei, Foshan, Guangdong, China; (B) Ambulyx sericeipennis sericeipennis, Hongkong, China; (C) Ambulyx ochracea, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; (D) Ambulyx kuangtungensis, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; (E) Ambulyx semiplacida montana, Pingbian County, Yunnan, China; (F) Ambulyx schauffelbergeri, Chongqing City, China; (G) Ambulyx siamensis, Mengla County, Yunnan, China; (H) Ambulyx siamensis, Mengla County, Yunnan, China; (I) Ambulyx liturata, Mt. Maoershan, Guangxi, China; (J) Ambulyx tobii, Kunming, Yunnan, China. (© Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025)

PUPA: [As shown above.]

Larval hostplants. Recorded from Yunnan, China, on Acer sinense Pax (Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).

PARASITOIDS

Unknown.

LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: Yunnan (Pingbian County, 1980-2040m).

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

Northern India (Nagaland), northern Myanmar/Burma, southern China (Yunnan), northern Thailand (Chiang Mai area - Doi Phahompok and Doi Inthanon), northern Laos (Houaphanh Province), and northern Vietnam (Fan-Si-Pan; Kon Tum).

Map: Distribution of species of the Ambulyx placida-group: Ambulyx japonica japonica (blue dots); Ambulyx japonica koreana (pink patch); Ambulyx japonica angustifasciata (green dots); Ambulyx placida (ochre squares); Ambulyx semiplacida semiplacida (red dots); Ambulyx semiplacida montana (black dots); Ambulyx semiplacida interplacida (orange patch); Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana (yellow dots); and Ambulyx wukong (purple squares). (© Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION

Holarctic; eastern Palaearctic region. Pleistocene refuge: Monocentric -- Sinopacific refugium.