Acherontia styx

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Acherontia styx
Acherontia styx - Death's head hawkmoth from Sri Lanka.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Acherontia
Species:
A. styx
Binomial name
Acherontia styx
Westwood, 1847
Synonyms
  • Acherontia arielBoisduval, 1875
  • Acherontia pseudatroposRöber, 1933
  • Acherontia styx interruptaCloss, 1911
  • Acherontia styx obsoletaSchmidt, 1914
  • Acherontia styx crathisRothschild & Jordan, 1903
  • Acherontia styx septentrionalis-chinensisPavlov, 1932

Acherontia styx, the lesser death's head hawkmoth or bee robber, is a sphingid moth found in Asia, one of the three species of death's-head hawkmoth. It is very fond of honey, and bee keepers have reported finding dead moths in their hives as a result of bee stings. They can mimic the scent of bees so that they can enter a hive unharmed to get honey. Their tongue, which is stout and very strong, enables them to pierce the wax cells of the beehive and suck the honey out. They are also known to be a pest of yuzu ( Citrus junos ) in South Korea, using their tongue to pierce and damage the fruit.

Description

Acherontia styx.jpg

This species is similar to the European A. atropos but differs in having two medial bands on the underside of the forewing, instead of one, and usually no dark bands across the ventral surface of the abdomen. The skull-like marking is darker and there is a faint blue tornal dot enclosed by a black submarginal band on the hindwing upperside. The forewing discal spot (stigma) is orange; in A. atropos it is usually white. [1]

There are two described subspecies, A. s. styx and A. s. medusaMoore, 1858, but they intergrade widely, and authorities presently consider that A. s. medusa is just a wet zone/season form and not taxonomically distinct. [1]

In, The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I, the species is described as follows.

Head brown; thorax dark blue-grey, with black lateral lines which meet behind; the center of the thorax occupied by a fulvous skull-mark with two black eyes; abdomen yellow, with blackish segmental bands and a blue-grey stripe down the vertex. Fore wing mottled with various shades of brown, fulvous and grey; three indistinct antemedial lines; a pale spot in the end of cell; two lunulate curved postmedial lines. Hind wing yellow with a postmedial black band not reaching the costa or anal angle; a similar submarginal maculate band. Differes from A. atropos in having two medial bands on the underside of the fore wing instead of one, and no bands on the underside of abdomen. Larva green, with oblique lateral yellow streaks on somites 4-10.

— The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. [2]

Development

Eggs are laid primarily on Bignoniaceae, Fabaceae, Oleaceae, Pedaliaceae, Solanaceae and Verbenaceae. In India the larvae sometimes occur in such numbers as to cause serious damage to crops such as Sesamum indicum . Mature larvae can be 120 mm long, and come in green, yellow or brown color forms. Larvae closely resemble those of A. atropos except that the dark blue dorsal speckling is more pronounced on the anterior half of each abdominal segment, and the tail horn is less curved and lacks a reflexed tip. Pupation occurs in an underground chamber, excavated less than 10 cm below the surface of the soil. [3]

Distribution

The variant referred to as A. styx medusa occurs throughout eastern continental Asia, from northeastern China (where it is a migrant) and Japan, south through eastern China and Vietnam to Peninsular Malaysia and peninsular Thailand. It is also found throughout the islands of the Malay Archipelago. A. s. styx occurs from north-central and western China westward across northern Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Iran to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, [1] Jordan [4] and Israel. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death's-head hawkmoth</span> Species of moth

The name death's-head hawkmoth refers to any of three moth species of the genus Acherontia. The former species is found throughout Africa and in Europe, the latter two are Asian; most uses of the common name refer to the African species. These moths are easily distinguishable by the vaguely human skull-shaped pattern of markings on the thorax. They are large nocturnal moths with brown and yellow or orange coloring, and all three species are fairly similar in size, coloration and life cycle.

<i>Daphnis nerii</i> Species of moth

Daphnis nerii, the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

<i>Acherontia atropos</i> Species of moth

Acherontia atropos, the Africandeath's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus Acherontia. It is most commonly identified by the vaguely skull-shaped pattern adorning the thorax, the characteristic from which its common and scientific names are derived. The species was first given its scientific name by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

<i>Nephele hespera</i> Species of moth

Nephele hespera, the crepuscular hawkmoth, is a sphingid moth described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.

<i>Hippotion celerio</i> Species of moth

Hippotion celerio, the vine hawk-moth or silver-striped hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

<i>Theretra nessus</i> Species of moth

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

<i>Acherontia lachesis</i> Species of moth

Acherontia lachesis, the greater death's head hawkmoth or bee robber, is a large sphingid moth found in India, Sri Lanka and much of the Oriental region. It is one of the three species of death's-head hawkmoth genus, Acherontia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798. It is nocturnal and very fond of honey; they can mimic the scent of honey bees so that they can enter a hive unharmed to get honey. Their tongue, which is stout and very strong, enables them to pierce the wax cells and suck the honey out. This species occurs throughout almost the entire Oriental region, from India, Pakistan and Nepal to the Philippines, and from southern Japan and the southern Russian Far East to Indonesia, where it attacks colonies of several different honey bee species. It has recently become established on the Hawaiian Islands.

<i>Cephonodes hylas</i> Species of moth

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.

<i>Hippotion velox</i> Species of moth

Hippotion velox, the dark striated hawkmoth, is a species of sphingid moth or the family Sphingidae. The species was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793.

<i>Macroglossum affictitia</i> Species of moth

Macroglossum affictitia, the dark-bordered hummingbird hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from Sri Lanka and southern India to Myanmar, Thailand and south-western Yunnan, China. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1875.

<i>Macroglossum belis</i> Species of moth

Macroglossum belis, the common hummingbird hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is known from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Thailand, southern China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia (Java).

<i>Macroglossum gyrans</i> Species of moth

Macroglossum gyrans is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1856 and is known from South-east Asia and Madagascar.

<i>Macroglossum insipida</i> Species of moth

Macroglossum insipida, the hermit hummingbird hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1875.

<i>Macroglossum sitiene</i> Species of moth

Macroglossum sitiene, the crisp-banded hummingbird hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae described by Francis Walker in 1856.

<i>Eudocima homaena</i> Species of moth

Eudocima homaena is a moth of the family Erebidae first described by Jacob Hübner in 1816. It is found in the Indian subregion, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Taiwan, the Nicobars, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines and on Christmas Island. It is a major pest on orange plants.

<i>Pergesa</i> Genus of moths

Pergesa is a monotypic moth genus in the family Sphingidae first described by Francis Walker in 1856. Its only species, Pergesa acteus, the green pergesa hawkmoth, was described by Pieter Cramer in 1779.

<i>Acosmeryx shervillii</i> Species of moth

Acosmeryx shervillii, the dull forest hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1875. It is found from the Indian subregion, Sri Lanka, to Sundaland, the Philippines and Sulawesi. Acosmeryx pseudonaga is sometimes treated as a valid species.

<i>Amplypterus panopus</i> Species of moth

Amplypterus panopus, the mango hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1779. It is found in Sri Lanka, southern and northern India, Nepal, Myanmar, southern China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines.

<i>Theretra lycetus</i> Species of moth

Theretra lycetus, the white-edged hunter hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Pieter Cramer in 1775.

<i>Ambulyx substrigilis</i> Species of moth

Ambulyx substrigilis, the dark-based gliding hawkmoth, is a species of moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by John O. Westwood in 1847.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pittaway, A. R. & Kitching, I. J. "Acherontia styx styx (Westwood, 1847) -- Eastern Death's Head hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis. p. 67 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ↑ Leong, Tzi Ming & Tay, Andrew (2011-02-24). "Final instar caterpillar and metamorphosis of Acherontia styx medusa in Singapore" (PDF). Nature in Singapore. 4: 13–18.
  4. ↑ Müller, G.; Kravchenko, V.; Chuang, Li; Eitschberger, U.; Miller, M.; Orlova, O.; Speidel, W. & Witt, T. (2005). "The Sphingidae of Jordan: Distribution, phenology and ecology (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae)". Atalanta. 36 (1/2): 209–221.
  5. ↑ Rittner, Oz & Biel, Ilan (2017). "First record of Acherontia styx (Westwood, 1848) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from Israel". Israel Journal of Entomology. 47: 19–20. doi:10.5281/zenodo.824634.
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