During the day, the caterpillars hide on the underside of a leaf. The caterpillars grow to a length up to 11 cms.

drawing by T.R.D. Bell & F.B. Scott,
The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma,
London, Taylor & Francis; Volume 5 (1937), Plate 8, fig 3,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries

The caterpillars pupate underground in a cell. The pupa has a length of about 6 cms.

(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Darwin, Northern Territory)

The adult moths have brown forewings, each with a bold pattern including a dark transverse band ending in a dark blob by the tornus, and a long dark triangle along the margin. The hindwings are pale brown with dark bands, each with a pink area in the middle, and a broad dark margin. The head and thorax are dark brown, and the abdomen paler brown. The wingspan is about 15 cms.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Darwin, Northern Territory)

This species occurs as various subspecies in south-east Asia, including ;

as well as in Australia as subspecies panopus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1903) in

drawing by Pieter Cramer, listed as Sphinx panopus,
Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
Amsterdam Baalde, vol. 3 (1779), Plate CCXXIV, fig. A,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries

The eggs are laid singly on the underside of a foodplant leaf. Each female may lay over 100 eggs.

underside
drawing by Pieter Cramer, listed as Sphinx panopus,
Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
Amsterdam Baalde, vol. 3 (1779), Plate CCXXIV, fig. A,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries

Further reading :

T.R.D. Bell & F.B. Scott,
in W.T. Blanford:
The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma,
Sphingidae, Compsogene,
London, Taylor & Francis; Volume 5 (1937), p. 104-108,, No. 16., and also Plate 1, fig 11, and Plate 8, fig. 3.

Pieter Cramer,
Description de Papillons Exotiques,
Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
Amsterdam Baalde, Vol. 3 (1779), p. 50, and also Plate 224, figs. A, B.

Maxwell S. Moulds, James P. Tuttle and David A. Lane.
Hawkmoths of Australia,
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Series, Volume 13 (2020),
pp. 67-69, Plates 75, 84.

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(written 22 February 2020)