Griseosphinx marchandi Cadiou, 1996

Jiang, Zhuo-Heng, Xu, Zhen-Bang, Lin, Yi-Ting, Liu, Chang-Qiu, Wang, Xin & Hu, Shao-Ji, 2025, New records and notes of hawkmoths from China (Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea), Zootaxa 5673 (2), pp. 151-188 : 170-172

Griseosphinx marchandi Cadiou, 1996 [ndzâ天ẽ]

( Figures 25–27 )

Griseosphinx marchandi Cadiou, 1996 ; Novit. zool., 33: 379; TL: ‘Hongay, Vietnam’.

Material examined. CHINA: 1♂, Chongzuo , Guangxi ( 1840 m), 4-V-2024, Xin Xie leg. [ JZHC] .

Diagnosis. Male ( Figures 25A–B , 27 ): The head is olive with a gray stripe near the eyes. The thorax is olive with dorsal gray hairs. The abdomen is olive dorsally, with gray hairs and a central row of dark green dots. The forewing is elongated and triangular, with a rounded apex and a smoothly curved outer margin. The forewing upperside has a gray base, interspersed with olive and deep green patches, and a black discal spot; the basal area exhibits curved olive lines with an irregularly shaped deep green patch near the discal cell. The marginal area appears whitish, with the apex and veins Rs4 and M 1 densely covered in white scales. Ventrally, the forewing transitions from a basal ochre ground color to dark grayish towards the margin. The hindwing upperside is uniformly brownish, while the underside is ochre with a dark grayish marginal area.

Female: Similar to the male but noticeably larger, with paler ground color and patterns, broader wings, and slenderer antennae.

Male genitalia ( Figures 26A–D ): The uncus and gnathos form the characteristic “bird-beak” structure of the Macroglossini . The uncus is straight, ending in a tiny apical hook, while the gnathos is slightly thicker, with a slightly spatulate apex. The valve is oval, and the sacculus tapers to a sinuate, sharp hook that is distinctly upcurved apically. The phallus is short and straight, terminating in a bilobed apical process; one lobe is short and broad, edged with several spines, and the other lobe is slender, ventrally projecting, and apically dentate.

Distribution. China (SW Guangxi), N. Vietnam ( Figure 1 ).

Biological notes. This species was collected in high elevation evergreen broad-leaf forest, attracted to light at night ( Figure 27 ).

Remarks. This rare hawkmoth had previously been known from only a very few specimens from N Vietnam, and is characterized by its conspicuous whitish marginal line on forewings. We here report the first male from Chongzuo, Guangxi, China, near the border with Vietnam. Photographs of living adult is also illustrated for the first time.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geographic distribution of Smerinthinae and Sphinginae species included in this study.

FIGURE 25. Habitus of Griseosphinx marchandi, male, Chongzuo, Guangxi, China. (A) Upperside; (B) underside. Scale bar = 10 mm.

FIGURE 26. Male genitalia of Griseosphinx marchandi, Chongzuo, Guangxi, China. (A) Lateral view, left valve removed; (B) Left valve; (C) Phallus; (D) Anterior lobe of the process.

FIGURE 27. Habitat and living adult (male) of Griseosphinx marchandi in Chongzuo, Guangxi, China.