Cephonodes hylas

Cephonodes hylas, the coffee bee hawkmoth, pellucid hawk moth or coffee clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771. A widely distributed moth, it is found in the Near East, Middle East, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia.[1][2]

Coffee bee hawkmoth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Sphingidae
Genus:
Cephonodes
Species:
C. hylas
Binomial name
Cephonodes hylas
(Linnaeus, [1771])
Synonyms
  • Sphinx hylas Linnaeus, [1771]

Description

It has transparent wings and a stout body like a bumble bee.[3] Its wingspan of 45–73 mm. Its marginal borders are very narrow and black. Abdomen varies in colour from yellow to green. Nominate subspecies has bright reddish 3rd and 4th abdominal segments. Larva have two colour forms, green and blackish. In greenish form, body greenish with a white-bordered blue dorsal line and whitish sub-dorsal line ending in a yellow streak at base of horn. Head and spiracles are blue.[4] In the dark-coloured form, head brown or pale orange and rest of body smoky black. Pupa dark brown.

Pellucid hawk moth with clear wings, hovering and sucking nectar from flowers using proboscis, Hyderabad, India.
  • Dorsal male
    (from the collection of the MHNT)
  • Ventral male
    (coll. MHNT)
  • Dorsal female
    (coll. MHNT)
  • Ventral female
    (coll. MHNT)

Ecology

Larvae are sluggish but eat very greedily and continuously. Its larvae feed on Burchellia, Gardenia, Kraussia, Pavetta and Vangueria species. Parasitoids such as Ooencyrtus papilionis and Blepharipa zebrine are found on larva.[5][6]

Subspecies
  • Cephonodes hylas hylas - (Linnaeus 1771) (Sri Lanka to China and Japan)
  • Cephonodes hylas australis - Kitching & Cadiou, 2000 (Australia)
  • Cephonodes hylas melanogaster - Cadiou, 1998 (Indonesia)
  • Cephonodes hylas virescens - (Wallengren, 1865) (Ethiopian Region including Madagascar and the Seychelles)
  • Cephonodes hylas larvae on Catunaregam spinosa in Hyderabad, India
  • Cephonodes hylas larvae on Catunaregam spinosa in Hyderabad
  • Cephonodes hylas larvae on Catunaregam spinosa in Hyderabad
  • Cephonodes hylas larvae on Catunaregam spinosa in Hyderabad
  • Pellucid hawk moth in Bangalore, India
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References
  1. "Cephonodes hylas (Linnaeus, 1771)". Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  2. "Cephonodes hylas". African Moths. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  3. "Coffee Hawk Moth (Cephonodes hylas)". OzAnimals Australian Wildlife. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  4. Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. Pittaway, A. R.; Kitching, I. J. (2018). "Cephonodes hylas hylas (Linnaeus, 1771) -- Coffee clearwing; Coffee bee hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  6. Herbison-Evans, Don & Crossley, Stella (15 February 2015). "Cephonodes hylas (Linnaeus, 1771) Coffee Hawk Moth". Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths. Retrieved 18 November 2018.


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