Updated as per More, Kitching and Cocucci's Hawkmoths of Argentina 2005, October, 2007
Updated as per All Leps Barcode of Life, October, 2007
Updated as per http://www.pybio.org/SPHINGINAE.htm (Paraguay), October 2007
Updated as per http://biological-diversity.info/sphingidae.htm (Belize), October 2007
Updated as per Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) de Venezuela, Compilado por: Maria Esperanza Chacon; December 2009
Updated as per Fauna Entomologica De Nicarauga, November 2007
Updated as per The Known Sphingidae of Costa Rica, November 2007
Updated as per personal communication with Jose Monzon (Guatemala); May 2009
Updated as per AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SPHINGIDAE OF BOLIVIA, December, 2009
Updated as per CATE (description; Rio Madeira, Brazil; Cayo, Belize); February 18, 2011
Updated as per "A Hawk Moths fauna of southern Maranhao state, Brazil, ... "; NEVA: Jahrgang 34 Heft 3 November 2013; via Jean Haxaire; April 5, 2014
Updated as per personal communication with Ezequiel Bustos (Shilap revta. lepid. 43 (172) diciembre, 2015, 615-631 eISSN 2340-4078 ISSN 0300-5267), January 4, 2016
Updated as per Hawk-moths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of Trinidad, West Indies: an illustrated and annotated list; Matthew J.W. Cock; April 6, 2022

Aleuron chloroptera
(Perty, [1833])

Aleuron chloroptera male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Aleuron chloroptera/prominens?, male/female?, Curvelo, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
December 20, 2017, courtesy of Geraldo Pereira.

I think the image from Curvelo might be a female of prominens, but it is more likely chloroptera, and markings seem closer to those of the female of that species as well.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802
Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839
Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878
Genus: Aleuron Hubner, [1819] ...........
Species: chloroptera Perty, 1833

DISTRIBUTION:

Aleuron chloroptera (wingspan 64-70 mm), flies in
Brazil (specimen type locality): Mato Grosso; southern Maranhao; probably throughout most of Brazil
Mexico;
Belize: Cayo, Stan Creek;
Guatemala (JM);
probably Honduras;
Nicaragua: Chontales;
Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Heredia;
probably El Salvador;
probably Panama;
Colombia;
Ecuador;
Peru;
Bolivia: La Paz, Santa Cruz;
Venezuela: Aragua;
Trinidad;
Guyana;
Surinam;
French Guiana;
Paraguay: (Canindeyu, Alta Parana, Guaira (pybio)) (probably Itapua, Caazapa (WO?));
Argentina: Misiones, Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Entre Rios; and
probably Uruguay.

Distinguished from all other Aleuron (except Aleuron prominens) by the almost uniform grey-green forewing upperside with a small black submarginal spot on M2, and a similarly coloured hindwing upperside with a broad, black marginal band. CATE

FLIGHT TIMES:

Aleuron chloroptera adults probably fly from at least April to January. In Costa Rica records exits for January, April-August, and November-December.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae formed in shallow subterranean chambers.

Aleuron chloroptera female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen.

Moths are poorly attracted to lights but visit puddles and flowers (Callianra, Inga, Duranta) at dusk. Moths rest with the hindwings protruding slightly ahead of the forewing costa.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae feed on Curatella americana and probably other members of Dilleniaceae family.

In Mato Grosso, Brazil, Eurides Furtado and Jean Haxaire report them on Davilla nitida with larval development requiring approximately 48 days.

Larvae become darker, almost brown, as they mature and anal horn is greatly diminished.

Aleuron chloroptera fifth instar courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Aleuron chloroptera fifth instar courtesy of Eurides Furtado.

Eclosion is approximately 18 days after pupation. The pupae are smooth and shiny, orange with black markings.

The larvae have very long "horns" in the early instars and are green.

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