Polyptychus nigriplaga

Polyptychus nigriplaga is a moth in the family Sphingidae. It is known from central and west Africa.

Polyptychus nigriplaga
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Polyptychus
Species:
P. nigriplaga
Binomial name
Polyptychus nigriplaga
Synonyms
  • Polyptychus nigriplagus
  • Polyptychus nigriplagus f. barnsi Clark, 1926
  • Polyptychus barnsi Clark, 1926

The length of the forewings is 29–36 mm for males. The forewings and body are pale cinnamon to creamy clay. There is a dark mesial streak on the head and thorax and a dark dot at the base of the forewing and one at the costa, near the apex. The wavy transverse lines of the forewing are very variable in intensity, some specimens being almost unmarked (these are known as form barnsi, although this is sometimes treated as a valid species), others being very heavily marked (form kivui, although this form is sometimes treated as a subspecies). The hindwings are paler, but darker at the tornus. The inner marginal black streak and tornal spots are present but variable. The length of the forewings for females is 33 mm. The apex and tornus are more acute that in the male. The ground colour is russet but darker towards the termen. The wavy transverse lines and stigma are faint, as is the subapical dot. There is no basal dot. The hindwings are uniformly russet with dark tomal spots and a faint inner marginal streak.

Subspecies
  • Polyptychus nigriplaga nigriplaga
  • Polyptychus nigriplaga kivui Clark, 1926 (lowland forest from Liberia and the Ivory Coast to the Congo and Uganda)[1]
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References
  1. Carcasson, R. H. (1967). "Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African species". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum. 26 (3): 1–173 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.


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