Theretra nessus

Yam hawk moth
	In Mangaon, Maharashtra, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Theretra
Species:	T. nessus
Binomial name
	Theretra nessus; (Drury, 1773)[1]
Synonyms
	Sphinx nessus Drury, 1773; Sphinx equestris Fabricius, 1793; Chaerocampa nessus rubicundus (Schaufuss, 1870);

Theretra nessus, the yam hawk moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Dru Drury in 1773.

Distribution

It is found in Sri Lanka, India (including the Andaman and Nicobar islands), Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, southern China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, northern Australia and New Caledonia.[2] It is a recent immigrant in Oahu.

Description

The wingspan is 90–130 mm. Head, thorax and a stripe down center of abdomen is green suffused with ferrugineous. Thorax is with a lateral grey stripe and abdomen is golden yellow at the sides. Forewings are olive brown and the base with a patch of black and white on the inner margin. A black dot is present at end of cell. A postmedial waved oblique line met by three straight oblique lines from the apex at inner margin. Hindwings are black brown where the anal angle is ochreous, which colour extends towards the apex as a submarginal band. Ventral side is suffused with reddish ochreous.[3]

Female dorsal
Female ventral
Male dorsal
Male ventral

Biology

Larva is bluish green, with a subdorsal line with oblique streaks below it on 4th to 10th somites. Ocellus on the 4th somite is greenish with a black ring. The horn is yellowish. Larvae have been recorded on Amaranthus, Barringtonia, Dioscorea, Amorphophallus, Impatiens, Citrullus, Arathis, Boerhavia, Knoxia, Morinda, Oldenlandia, Pongamia, Spermacoce, Glossostigma and Camellia.[4][5]

Theretra nessus larva (2) and pupa (2a)

Subspecies

Theretra nessus nessus - nominate from South Asia and South East Asian countries
Theretra nessus albata Fukuda, 2003 (Fiji, New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands and Rossel Island at the extreme eastern end of the Louisiade Archipelago)

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References

"CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
"Theretra nessus". Butterfly House. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Pittaway, A. R.; Kitching, I. J. (2018). "Theretra nessus (Drury, 1773) -- Yam hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
"Theretra nessus Drury". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 6 July 2016.

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[1] "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2011-10-25.

[2] "Theretra nessus". Butterfly House. Retrieved 6 July 2016.

[3] Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.

[4] Pittaway, A. R.; Kitching, I. J. (2018). "Theretra nessus (Drury, 1773) -- Yam hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 17, 2018.

[5] "Theretra nessus Drury". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 6 July 2016.