Agrius
| Agrius | ||||||||||
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Windwarmers ( Agrius convolvuli ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Agrius | ||||||||||
| Huebner , 1819 |
Agrius is a genus from the butterfly family of the hawkers (Sphingidae). The species of the genus are almost all native to the tropics and subtropics , only the wind swarmers ( Agrius convolvuli ) colonize the warm south of the western Palearctic all year round.
features
The moths are not as strongly built as those of the similar genus Acherontia and have narrower forewings than these. Some species are vividly colored and have pink hind wings and a drawing of pink and black bands on the abdomen. The proboscis can be up to 2.5 times as long as the body and is tapered towards the tip. In the males the antennae are evenly thick up to the hook-shaped curved tip , the antennae tips of the females are slightly thickened club-shaped. The abdomen tapers towards the back. The tarsi are slender and not compressed. The tarsi of the middle and rear pair of legs have a basal tuft of hair on the underside of the first limb. The tibiae of the hind legs have two pairs of spurs. The genus can be safely distinguished from the closest related genus Manduca by a number of features of the genitals.
The eggs are very small in relation to the size of the moths. They are spherical and have a light blue-green sheen after being deposited.
The caterpillars , like those of the genus Acherontia , are variable in their coloration, but have a compact, smooth anal horn , which is upright and slightly curved upwards. The head capsule is large and oval. The body has oblique stripes on the side of the abdomen or has longitudinal lines.
The pupae are smooth, shiny and brown in different colors. The proboscis is noticeably curled up and separated from the body. The Kremaster is large and has two short end points that are close together.
Way of life
The caterpillars feed mainly on the leaves of shrubs and herbaceous plants of the hoist plants (Convolvulaceae), legumes (Fabaceae) and Borage Family (Boraginaceae). Pupation takes place in a chamber in the ground.
Systematics
In Europe the genus Acherontia is only represented by the winch hawk; six species of the genus are known worldwide:
- Windwarmers ( Agrius convolvuli ) (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Agrius cingulata (Fabricius, 1775)
- Agrius cordiae Riotte, 1984
- Agrius luctifera (Walker, 1865)
- Agrius godarti (Macleaey, 1826)
- Agrius Rothschildi Kitching & Cadiou, 2000
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic. AR Pittaway, accessed August 1, 2008 .
- ^ A b c James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America. A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .
- ^ Agrius. Fauna Europaea, accessed August 1, 2008 .
- ^ Ian J. Kitching, Jean-Marie Cadiou: Hawkmoths of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary Checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Cornell University Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8014-3734-2 .
literature
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic. Harley, London 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6 .
- James P. Tuttle: The Hawkmoths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, DC 2007, ISBN 978-0-9796633-0-7 .
