Xylophanes tersa
| Tersa Sphinx Moth | |
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| Conservation status | |
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Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Sphingidae |
| Genus: | Xylophanes |
| Species: | X. tersa |
| Binomial name | |
| Xylophanes tersa (Linnaeus, 1771)[1] |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Tersa Sphinx (Xylophanes tersa) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from the United States (from Massachusetts south to southern Florida, west to Nebraska, New Mexico and southern Arizona), through Mexico, the West Indies and Central America and into parts of South America (including Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil). An occasional stray can be found as far north as Canada.
The wingspan is 60-80 mm. The upperside of the forewing is pale brown with lavender-gray at the base and has dark brown lines. The upperside of the hindwing is dark brown with a band of whitish, wedge-shaped marks. Adults are on wing in one generation in the north with adults on wing from May to October. There are several generations in Florida and Louisiana with adults on wing from February to November. In the tropics, adults are on wing year round. The adults feed on the flower nectar of various flowers, including Lonicera, Mirabilis jalapa and Asystasia gangetica.
The larvae feed on Borreria, Catalpa, Manettia, Spermacoce glabra, Hamelia patens, Hedyotis nigricans, Heimia salicifolia, Psychotria microdon, Psychotria nervosa, Inga vera and Pentas species. They have a snake-like appearance.
[edit] Subspecies
- Xylophanes tersa tersa
- Xylophanes tersa chaconi De Marmels, Clavijo & Chacín, 1996 (Venezuela)
[edit] References
- ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. https://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Xylophanes/tersa.html. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
[edit] External links
- Xylophanes tersa tersa Sphingidae of the Americas
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