Sphinx franckii
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Specimen from Sphinx franckii |
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| Sphinx franckii | ||||||||||||
| Neumoegen , 1893 |
Sphinx Franckii is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae). When the very rare species was only known from butterflies, it was assumed that they were natural hybrids between Sphinx kalmiae and Sphinx chersis . Only when the caterpillars were found did they realize that it had to be a separate species.
features
butterfly
The moths have a fore wing length of 42 to 64 millimeters, with the females becoming slightly larger than the males. The type is not variable. The species is unmistakable due to the gray costal area and the otherwise yellowish-brown forewings. There are several dark diagonal stripes between the two color areas. The outer edge is slightly concave in the males. The hind wings are black and have a brown spot at the base. The median band and the outer edge are also colored.
egg
The shiny pale yellow eggs are oval and measure 1.9 by 1.7 millimeters. You can see the caterpillar through the egg shell.
Caterpillar
The caterpillars are long after hatching about five to six millimeters and have a pale yellow color. Her large anal horn is orange-red and has a black tip. As they eat, the basic color of the caterpillars turns green and before the first molt, a double pale line appears on the sides of the back that extends from the head to the anal horn. On the anterior segments there is another such line below the spiracles . In the second stage the animals are gray-green and have a very grainy body surface. The back is paler and almost white. The upper of the dorsolateral longitudinal lines is now very white and clearly stronger. There are seven white sloping side stripes on the sides of the body. A white ventro-lateral line forms on the thorax . The triangular, notched head is pale green, has thorns on the vertex and yellow stripes on the cheeks. The anal horn is orange and has a pale, almost yellowish edge. In the third stage, the body has a blue-gray basic color and is whitish on the back. The side stripes will turn off-white and the last one that leads to the base of the anal horn will be stronger. The head is apple green and has yellow stripes on the cheeks. The anal horn is pale dark yellow and shimmers dorsally orange. It now also bears fine purple tubercles. The more dominant dorso-lateral line now has tooth-like tubercles lined up closely in one line. The thoracic legs are green with pink tips. In the fourth stage, the oblique side stripes of the animals have a turquoise-green border. The strong, straight anal horn is pale cream-colored on the sides, blue-gray above and below and thus merges with the adjacent sloping side stripe. All other side stripes fade, with the lower half of each stripe being more yellow than white and often consisting of just a series of tubercles. The teeth of the dorso-lateral lines are now separated and form a double crest running next to the back. The teeth become larger towards the head and are more yellowish. The head and thorax are apple-green, the strong follower is yellow.
When fully grown, the animals are 85 to 92 millimeters long. The head is now broadly triangular, the thoracic segments are flattened laterally, and the spiracles turn orange. The anal horn is very strong and slightly curved. It is blue-gray at the top, grayish at the bottom and cream-colored on the sides. On the back, the abdomen is white, with the exception of the crests with turquoise-green edges and an occasional purple sheen. The thoracic legs are green on the basal segment and yellow above, the middle segment is red, the tip is pink. The double comb on the back is unique in the genus Sphinx and otherwise only occurs in the caterpillars of Ceratomia amyntor .
Doll
The doll is 50 to 56 millimeters long. It is blackish brown, but the intersegmental skins are mahogany brown. The very short proboscis sheath, about five millimeters long, is exposed, but lies flat on the body. The short, very wide and strong cremaster ends in a quadruple point.
Occurrence
The species is distributed from New Jersey, south over Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to Missouri. The species is particularly common in the Appalachian Mountains and west to the Ohio River valley. The species has been detected in the southeast as far as north Florida, although it is very rare here. The northern limit of distribution is apparently where ice-age glaciers have spread.
Sphinx franckii inhabits old deciduous forests.
Way of life
The moths are only documented by light catches, there are no observed flower visits. The flight of the animals begins shortly before midnight.
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly in the Appalachian Mountains from mid-June to mid-July. In southern Illinois, the species flies from mid-June to mid-August. In northern Florida, the species flies from early June to late August. Since there are only a few individual finds, it is difficult to determine whether one or two generations fly a year.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars eat ash trees ( Fraxinus ). The claim that they also feed on elms ( ulmus ) could not be proven and is probably based on a confusion with Ceratomia amyntor .
development
In captivity, the females lay their eggs one by one. After hatching, the caterpillars eat at least half of the egg shell. They initially rest on the midrib on the underside of the leaves of their food plant and eat very little. The caterpillars are also very sluggish in the second stage. From the fourth stage onwards, they hang from the leaf stem while they are eating, by clinging to the rear belly legs. After a few days of feeding, the caterpillar separates the stem from the leaves. Pupation takes place in a chamber a few centimeters deep in the ground.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 g Sphingidae of the Americas. Bill Oehlke, accessed December 29, 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 .
