| (formerly known as Hemaris janus) MACROGLOSSINAE, SPHINGIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Specimen: courtesy of the
The Australian Museum)
|
| (formerly known as Hemaris janus) MACROGLOSSINAE, SPHINGIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Specimen: courtesy of the
The Australian Museum)
The Caterpillars of this species can be either green, rusty brown, or black. Early instars have a forward curving tail horn. The 4th instar caterpillar develops a backward curving tail horn, and a pale line along each side, under the spiracles. The spiracles are white in a small black circle, often with a reddish halo. Last instar caterpillars develop an additional pale line along each side above the spiracles.
The caterpillars have been found feeding on a variety of plants in RUBIACEAE including:
The caterpillars grow to a length of about 5 cms. The pupa is brown and smooth, with a length of about 3.5 cms. The caterpillars are thought to burrow into the soil to pupate if the soil is friable, otherwise forming a loose cocoon between dead leaves in the ground litter. The pupa is dark brown, with a length of about 3.5 cms.
The adult moths, like the other adult moths in this genus, soon lose the scales from the wings, leaving them transparent. The moths then resemble Bumble Bees, hence the name 'Bee Hawks' for the moths in Cephonodes. This species has a very narrow opaque margin around the wings, and a uniformly brown abdomen. The moth has a wingspan of about 5 cms.
The species has been found in
William Henry Miskin,
A Revision of Australian Sphingidae,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 8, Part 1 (1891), p. 6.
Maxwell S. Moulds, James P. Tuttle and David A. Lane.
Hawkmoths of Australia,
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Series, Volume 13 (2020),
pp. 79-82, Plates 12, 78, 85.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 9 December 2005, 26 February 2015)