Hippotion velox

Dark striated hawkmoth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Hippotion
Species:	H. velox
Binomial name
Hippotion velox (Fabricius, 1793) [1]
Synonyms
Sphinx veloxFabricius, 1793 Sphinx phoenyxHerrich-Schäffer, 1856 Sphinx vigilGuérin-Méneville, 1843 Panacra roseaRothschild, 1894 Panacra pseudovigilRothschild, 1894 Panacra lignariaWalker, 1856 Panacra lifuensisRothschild, 1894 Panacra griseolaRothschild, 1894 Hippotion taiwanensisRiotte, 1975 Hippotion tainanensisClark, 1932 Hippotion obanawaeMatsumura, 1909 Hippotion noelClark, 1923 Hippotion japenumRiotte, 1994 Hippotion beddoesiiClark, 1922 Choerocampa yorkiiBoisduval, 1875 Chaerocampa swinhoeiMoore, 1866

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.

Distribution

It is found throughout the Indo-Australian tropics of India, Sri Lanka and east to Fiji and New Caledonia, north to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sumatra southern Japan and northern Australia from Western Australia to Queensland. ^[2]

Description

The wingspan is 54–76 mm. The head and thorax are brown with pale lateral streaks. The abdomen is brown with numerous dark strigae and pairs of pale lateral strigae on each segment. The forewings are brown without any silvery makings, thus differ from T. celerio. Hindwings are smoky brown with traces of a darker submarginal line. ^[3]

• 
  Male dorsal
• 
  Male ventral
• 
  Female dorsal
• 
  Female ventral

The final instar occurs in two forms, green and dark. ^[4] Larvae are pale green or brown with dorsal black dots. There is an eyespot on the 4th somite which is blue centered with yellow in the green form. An ochreous black ring is present in brown form. There is a subdorsal line from 5th to 11th somite. Horn is purplish in the green form. Pupa is bone colored, closely spotted and speckled with brown and some black dots.

The larvae have been recorded on Araceae, Convolvulaceae, Nyctaginaceae and Rubiaceae species, including Ipomoea , Boerhavia and Morinda species. ^[5]

References

1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
2. "Hippotion velox". Butterfly House. Retrieved 5 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. "Hippotion velox Fabricius". The Moths of Borneo. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
5. Pittaway, A. R.; Kitching, I. J. (2018). "Hippotion velox (Fabricius, 1793) -- Dark striated hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 15, 2018.

• Pinhey, E. (1962). Hawk Moths of Central and Southern Africa. Longmans Southern Africa, Cape Town.
• Barnett, L. K.; Emms, C. W. & Holloway, J. D. (July 1, 1999). "The moths of the Chagos Archipelago with notes on their biogeography". Journal of Natural History. 33 (7): 1021–1038. doi:10.1080/002229399300065.