Sphingomorpha chlorea ( Cramer, 1777 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 351-352

Sphingomorpha chlorea ( Cramer, 1777) ( Fig. 39 )

COMMON NAME(S): Sundowner Moth, Banana hawk or Fruit-piercing. SYNONYM(S): Noctua rapta Fabricius, 1787 ; Sphingomorpha sipyla Guenée, 1852c Sphingomorpha monteironis Butler, 1875a . IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE). DISTRIBUTION: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique,

Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri

Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Three localities [Latitude, - 12.59102° South; Longitude, 30.25436° East: Latitude, - 12.55529° South; Longitude, 30.29519° East and Latitude, - 12.55529° South; Longitude; 30.29519° East], in Central

Province; One locality [Latitude, - 9.54263° South; Longitude, 29.38854° East] in Northern Province;

One locality [Latitude, - 13.1098° South; Longitude, 31.7545° East] in Eastern Province and; One locality

[Latitude, - 14.70134° South; Longitude, 22.59579° East] in Western Province.

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Larval foodplants include six Fabaceae species (i.e. Vachellia karroo (Hayne) Banfi & Galasso , V. tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi , V. xanthophloea (Benth.) P.J.H.Hurter , Burkea africana Hook. ,

Pisum sativum L. and Newtonia buchananii (Baker) G.C.C.Gilbert & Boutique ), two Malvaceae species

( Thespesia garckeana F.Hoffm. [“African chewing gum”] and Thespesia sp. ), two Anacardiaceae species

( Sclerocarya birrea Hochst. and S. birrea subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro ), one Rutaceae pecies ( Citrus

sp.) and one Rosaceae species ( Malus pumila Mill. ).

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Scan-bugs Organization 2019a; Strand 1909a –h.

Genus Spirama Guenée, 1852c

Figures

FIGURES 38–40. Adult moths. 38a, Nephele peneus (Cramer, 1776) (Sphingidae: Macroglossinae). Collected at a black light trap in Lusaka, 6 May 2011, dorsal view; 38b, ditto, ventral view. 39a, Temnora natalis Walker, 1856—Natal Temnora (Sphingidae: Macroglossinae) collected at a black light trap, Lusaka, 5 January 2011; 39b, ditto, ventral view. 40a, Asota speciosa (Drury, 1773)—Specious Tiger (Erebidae: Aganainae) caught at a black light trap in Lusaka, 8 March 2011; 40b, ditto, ventral view. Scale bar 2 cm. © Kind permission of the University of Zambia.