Agrius convolvuli ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Mbata, Keith J. & Prins, Jurate De, 2023, Annotated checklist of moths of Zambia (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 5354 (1), pp. 1-503 : 199-200

Agrius convolvuli ( Linnaeus, 1758) * ( Fig. 27 )

COMMON NAME (S): Convolvulus Hawkmoth , convolvulus hawk-moth, Convolvulus Hawk , Sweet-potato Hawkmoth or Morning Glory Sphinx Hawkmoth.

SYNONYM(S): Agrius abadonna ( Fabricius, 1798) ; Agrius aksuensis ( Bang-Haas, 1927) ; Agrius batatae ( Christ, 1882) ; Agrius distans ( Butler, 1874d) ; Agrius ichangensis Tutt, 1904 ; Agrius indica ( Skell, 1913) ; Agrius javanensis ( Tutt, 1904) ; Agrius marshallensis ( Clark, 1922) ; Agrius orientalis ( Butler, 1877a) ; Agrius peitaihoensis ( Clark, 1922) ; Agrius pseudoconvolvuli ( Schaufuss, 1870) ; Agrius roseofasciata ( Koch, 1865) ; Agrius tahitiensis ( Tutt, 1904) .

IUCN STATUS: Not Evaluated (NE).

DISTRIBUTION: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Azores, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, China, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia , Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Congo, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena , Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkestan, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, White Russia, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

LOCALITY IN ZAMBIA: Victoria Falls Region including Livingstone town , in Southern Province ; Lusaka [Latitude, - 15.55895 South; Longitude, 28.27554 East]** and Riverside Motel ( RIMO) in Kafue **, both localities, in in Lusaka Province ; A locality in central Zambia [Latitude, - 12.49688 South; Longitude, 30.19434 East], in Central Province .

LARVAL HOSTPLANT(S): Host plants of the taxon include: four Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., I. ficifolia Lindl. , Calystegia sepium (L.) R. Br. and Convolvulus arvensis L.) in South Africa ( van den Berg et al. 1975; Prinsloo & Uys 2015); one Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) in Cameroon ( Schultze 1914); one Convolvulaceae species ( Merremia umbellata (L.) Hallier f.) in the Réunion ( Martiré & Rochat 2008); one Bignoniaceae species ( Tabebuia pallida (Lindl.) Miers ) and two Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet and I. mauritiana Jacq. ) in the Seychelles ( Legrand 1966; Matyot 2005); one Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea sp. ) in Sudan ( Aurivillius 1905 ); two Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea sp. and Convolvulus sp. ) and one Malvaceae species ( Urena lobata L. ) in Madagascar ( Griveaud 1959); three Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., I. repens (L.) Lam. and I. cairica (L.) Sweet), one Melastomataceae species ( Heterotis rotundifolia (Sm.) Jacq. -Fél.) and one Bignoniaceae species ( Newbouldia laevis (P.Beauv.) Seem. ) in Nigeria ( Delf & Harris 1964; MacNulty 1970); six Convolvulaceae species ( Ipomoea pileata Roxb. , I. aquatica Forssk. , I. setifera Poir. , I. bonariensis Hook. , I. argentaurata Hallier f. and Merremia tridentata (L.) Hallier f.) and three Lamiaceae species ( Ocimum basilicum L., O. gratissimum L. and Basilicum polystachyon (L.) Moench) in Côte d’Ivoire ( Vuattoux et al. 1989) and five Convolvulaceae species ( Convolvulus arvensis L., C. sepium L., C. tricolor L., C. major Gilib. and Convolvulus sp. ), one Balsaminaceae species ( Impatiens noli-tangere L.) and one Polygonaceae species ( Rumex sp. ) in unnamed African country or countries ( Linnaeus 1758; Distant 1903).

The African Moths (2019) webpage lists the following plants as larval foodplants of the taxon in the above listed countries: six Convolvulaceae species ( Merremia umbellata (L.) Hallier f., Convolvulus arvensis L., C. sepium L., C. tricolor L., Convolvulus major Gilib. and Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.), one Balsaminaceae species ( Impatiens noli-tangere L.), one Asteraceae species ( Lactuca sativa L.), one Bignoniaceae species ( Tabebuia pallida (Lindl.) Miers ) and one Malvaceae species ( Urena lob ata L.).

SOURCES: African Moths 2019; Aurivillius 1905 ; De Prins & De Prins 2022; Delf & Harris 1964; Distant 1903; Griveaud 1959; Legrand 1966; Linnaeus 1758; MacNulty 1970; Martiré & Rochat 2008; Matyot 2005; Prinsloo & Uys 2015; Strand 1909a, l, h; Schultze 1914; van den Berg et al. 1975; Vuattoux et al. 1989.

Genus Coelonia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903

Figures

FIGURES 26–28. Adult moths. 26, Gonimbrasia belina (Westwood, 1894)—Anomalous Emperor or Mopane Worm. Kabwelume Falls area, Luapula Province, 28 September 2015; 26a, dorsal view; 26b, ditto, ventral view. 27, Heniocha dyops (Maassen, 1872)—Marbled Emperor, female (Saturniidae: Saturniinae), Riverside Motel (RIMO) in Kafue, 5 December 2010; 27a, dorsal view, 27b, ditto, ventral view. 28, Holocerina smilax smilax (Westwood, 1849)—Variable Prince (Saturniidae: Saturniinae), Riverside Motel (RIMO), Kafue, 10 April 2011; 28a, dorsal view; 28b, ditto, ventral view. Scale bar 2 cm. © Kind permission of the University of Zambia.