Manduca occulta
| Manduca occulta | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manduca occulta (preparation) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Manduca occulta | ||||||||||||
| ( Rothschild & Jordan , 1903) |
Manduca occulta is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae).
features
The moths have a fore wing length of 45 to 49 millimeters. Their coloring is not very variable. The species can easily be confused with Manduca sexta , which, however, grows a little larger and tends to be a little stronger. Both species have a very similar pattern on the forewings. In Manduca occulta , the forewings are somewhat narrower, have more brown components and have a less contrasting pattern than in M sexta . Their pattern is about equal parts black and white, with Manduca sexta the ratio of black to white is 2: 1. The wing hem is provided with this species with wider white bands. The tip of the hind wings is tapered, in Manduca sexta it is more rounded. In addition, the white band on the hind wings of Manduca occulta is fairly straight and not curved as in Manduca sexta .
The caterpillars are bright green with seven pairs of sloping side stripes. The first six are light white to very pale light green, but the last, broad stripe is always white and very distinctive. It runs to the anal horn . The stripes are bordered by a strong black to dark green line towards the back. The second to fourth segments of the caterpillars have a number of irregularly arranged, short thorns on their backs. The green anal horn is very rough and covered with green or black nodules. In the last stage, the caterpillars can be easily distinguished from those of Manduca sexta by several features: the oblique lateral stripes usually end within the same body segment, the dark border adjacent to them is even and not interrupted. In addition, both the second through fourth segments and the anal horn are smooth in the similar species. The caterpillars are also similar to those of Manduca dilucida .
Occurrence
The species is particularly common in Central America. They can be found from Panama north to Mexico as well as in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It is unclear whether the species is indigenous to the United States . They can be detected there with one or two individuals per year in the mountains of southeastern Arizona, but it is unclear whether these are not moths that fly in from Mexico, as indigenous populations are already known from Sonora , a little further south . Since the food plants required by the species also grow in Arizona, it is assumed that the species is indigenous there, at least temporarily. There is no evidence from Texas, although the species is indigenous there, a little further south in Tamaulipas . Two records from Florida seem doubtful as the species has not been recorded from the West Indies .
Manduca occulta inhabits banks and gravel banks of rivers in Mexico, where it is also found in Arizona.
Way of life
Little is known about the way of life of the species.
Flight and caterpillar times
The species flies in Arizona in July and August. In Costa Rica, the species flies in one generation during the rainy season in May and June. It flies in Nicaragua in July, August and October.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on the nightshade family and have been found in Costa Rica on Cestrum glanduliferum , Cestrum racemosum , Solanum accrescens and Solanum hazenii . In Mexico it has also been found on Solanum erianthum .
development
How pupation takes place is unknown, but it is assumed that it takes place in the ground in a chamber, as with the other species of the genus Manduca . Parasitoids of the caterpillars are the caterpillar flies Drino rhoeo and Drino piceiventris and the brackish wasps Microplitis espinachi and Meteorus congregatus .
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i 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 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Sphingidae of the Americas. Bill Oehlke, accessed December 28, 2011 .
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 .
