Amplypterus panopus (Cramer, 1779)
Mango Hawkmoth
SMERINTHINAE,   SPHINGIDAE,   BOMBYCOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Amplypterus panopus
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 1, fig 11,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries

The Caterpillars of this species are green, with a diagonal yellow line on the side of each segment. There is a harmless strong forward-curving spine on the last segment.

In Australia: the caterpillars have been found feeding on various plants including

  • Mango ( Manifera indica, ANACARDIACEAE ), and
  • Mastwood ( Callophyllum_inophyllum, CLUSIACEAE ).

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

    Amplypterus panopus
    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.

    Amplypterus panopus
    (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.

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

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

  • Burma,
  • Java,
  • Malaysia,
  • Philippines,

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

  • Northern Territory.

    Amplypterus panopus
    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.

    Amplypterus panopus
    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)