Obscure sphinx
Erinnyis obscura obscura ♂
Erinnyis obscura obscura ♂ △
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Erinnyis
Species:
E. obscura
Binomial name
Erinnyis obscura
Synonyms
  • Sphinx obscura Fabricius, 1775
  • Sphinx picta Sepp, 1848
  • Sphinx rustica Schaller, 1788
  • Anceryx rhaebus Boisduval, 1870
  • Dilophonota festa Edwards, 1882
  • Erinnyis cinerosa Grote, 1865
  • Erinnyis domingonis (Butler, 1875)
  • Erinnyis domingonis pallescens Clark, 1936
  • Erinnyis obscura jamaicensis Clark, 1935

Erinnyis obscura, the obscure sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1775.

Distribution

It lives from the northern part of South America up to the central United States.

Description

Biology

Adults are on wing year round in the tropics, southern Florida and southern Texas. A single specimen has been added to the Cornell University Insect Collection after being collected by John Dombrowski in Ithaca New York, Tompkins County. The species was identified by curator Jason Dombroeski. This suggests that E. obscura's range is much more northern than expected. [see Cornell Insect Collection Data Base]. [2]

The caterpillars feed on various members of the family Apocynaceae, including Rauvolfia ligustrina, Rauvolfia tetraphylla, Stemmadenia obovata, Philibertia, Cynanchum and Carica papaya as well as Asclepiadaceae and spurge species, including Blepharodon mucronatum, Funastrum clausum and Morrenia odorata.

Subspecies

  • Erinnyis obscura obscura (tropical and subtropical lowlands from Uruguay west to Bolivia and Argentina and north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to Florida, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. Strays recorded up to Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota and Pennsylvania)
  • Erinnyis obscura conformis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (Galapagos Islands)
  • Erinnyis obscura socorroensis Clark, 1926 (Revillagigedo Islands)

References

  1. ↑ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  2. ↑ "Lepidoptera".


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