Agrius cingulata
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Agrius cingulata
| Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Sphingidae |
| Genus: | Agrius |
| Species: | A. cingulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Agrius cingulata (Fabricius, 1775)[1] |
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| native range, see text for details | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Pink-spotted Hawkmoth or Sweetpotato Hornworm (Agrius cingulata, synonym: Agrius cingulatus) is a species of moth in the Sphingidae family. The imagines have a wingspan of 3 3/4 - 4 3/4 inches (9.5 - 12 cm).
They have a robust gray brown body with pink bands, hence the name. Their abdomen tapers to a point. The hindwings are gray with black bands and pink at the base. They are nocturnal, feeding on the nectar from deep-throated flowers including moonflower (Calonyction aculeatum), morning glory (Convolvulus), and petunia (Petunia species). Larvae (Caterpillars) are large and stout, and have the characteristic horn of many members of the sphingidae family. They feed during the day and also during the night on sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), jimsonweed (Datura), and other related plants. A. cingulatus can sometimes become pests on the sweet potato vines.
Distribution
Originally a neotropical species (but also found on Galapagos and Hawai'i, adults migrate north up to Canada and south up to Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. There have even been reports from western Europe, for example Portugal. It has recently been established in West Africa and the Cape Verde Islands. They presumably arrived there from Brazil.[2][3][4]
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Agrius cingulatus, imago (adult), Durham, North Carolina, United States
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Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth variation
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Caterpillar
References
- ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Agrius/cingulata.html. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
- ^ Agrius cingulatus (section "Distribution")
- ^ Bauer, E.; Traub, B. (July 1980). Part 1: Sphingidae und Arctiidae. In Dr. Heinz Schröder for the Society Internationaler Entomologischer Verein. "Zur Macrolepidopterenfauna der Kapverdischen Inseln [On the Macrolepidoptera fauna of the Cape Verde Islands]" (in German). Entomologische Zeitschrift (Frankfurt am Main: Alfred Kernen Verlag in Stuttgart) 90 (14): 244–248.
- ^ Eduardo Marabuto (2006). "The Occurrence Of A Neotropical Hawkmoth In Southern Portugal: Agrius cingulatus". Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa 38: 163−166. http://www.sea-entomologia.org/PHORON/pdf/PHO-B38-Agrius.pdf
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Agrius cingulata |
- Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth Moths of North America Guide
- The Pink-spotted Hawkmoth
- [1] Video of Sweet Potato Hornworm
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