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.