Manduca

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Manduca
Preparation of Manduca brasiliensis, ♂

Preparation of Manduca brasiliensis , ♂

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Swarmers (Sphingidae)
Subfamily : Sphinginae
Genre : Manduca
Scientific name
Manduca
Linnaeus , 1763
Tobacco hawk caterpillar ( Manduca sexta )

Manduca is a genus within the butterfly family of the swarmers (Sphingidae). The genus is relatively large and includes 66 species with numerous subspecies.

features

The moths are relatively large and strongly built. Your proboscis is well developed. Clear autapomorphies are difficult to define in the heterogeneous group. Hodges (1971) suspects this in the absence of the spurs on the rails ( tibia ) of the forelegs and the similarly shaped genitals of the males.

The eggs are spherical and are among the largest of the swarmers. The caterpillars have the typical build of the family with a conspicuous anal horn .

Way of life

The species of the genus feed on a large number of different plant families, but they often feed on the nightshade family (Solanaceae), verbena family (Verbenaceae), predatory leaf family (Boraginaceae) and trumpet tree family (Bignoniaceae). Pupation takes place several centimeters deep in the ground in a chamber. The previously known pupae have exposed proboscis sheaths that protrude strongly in many species.

Occurrence

Most of the species in the genus are common in the Neotropics . In North America, seven species are endemic. In another species, Manduca occulta , this is suspected; two species, Manduca albiplaga and Manduca lanuginosa, have only been identified as random visitors.

Systematics

72 species of the genus are known worldwide:

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d 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 .
  2. ↑ Manduca Hübner, 1807. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory, accessed July 1, 2015 .

literature

  • 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 .

Web links

Commons : Manduca  - collection of images, videos and audio files