Macroglossum rectans Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
MACROGLOSSINAE,   SPHINGIDAE,   BOMBYCOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


male, photo by Rothschild & Jordan,
A Revision of the Lepidopterous Family Sphingidae,
Novitates Zoologicae, Volume IX Supplement (1903), Plate IV, figure 8,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Natural History Museum Library, London.

Early instars of this Caterpillar are green with a long black tail spike. The later instars may be green, brown or black, covered in white dots, have a vague pale lateral line each side above the spiracles, and sometimes a broken zigzag line below the spiracles. The spiracles may be yellow or orange. The tail spike is long, warty, dark, and basically forward curving.

The caterpillars have been found feeding on plants from the family RUBIACEAE, including :

  • White-fruited Psychotia ( Psychotria poliostemma )

    The caterpillars grow to a length of about 6 cms. They pupate in a loose cocoon in a crevice or ground debris. The pupa is brown with dark spots on the spiracles, and dark partial dorsal and ventral lines. The pupa has a length of about 4 cms.

    The adult moths of this species are brown with a narrow white band across each forewing, and a broad yellow band across each hindwing. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

    The eggs are oval and yellow, with a length of about 1.3 mms. The eggs are laid singly on stems and under leaves of a foodplant.

    This species is found in:

  • New Guinea,

    and also in Australia in:

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Walter Rothschild & Karl Jordan,
    A Revision of the Lepidopterous Family Sphingidae,
    Novitates Zoologicae,
    Volume 9 Supplement (1903), pp. 620, 626, 650, No. 501, and also Plate 4, figure 8.


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    (updated 12 December 2009, 14 February 2015, 13 December 2020)