Adhemarius gannascus gannascus
Updated as per More, Kitching and Cocucci's Hawkmoths of Argentina 2005, October, 2007
Updated as per http://www.pybio.org/SPHINGINAE.htm, October 2007
Updated as per AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SPHINGIDAE OF BOLIVIA, October 2007
Updated as per http://biological-diversity.info/sphingidae.htm (Belize), November 2007
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 Vladimir Izersky (Junin Peru, October 21, 2008, 1050m), November 2008.
Updated as per personal communication with Andres Oscar Contreras (Neembucu, Paraguay), May 2009.
Updated as per personal communication with Ezequiel Bustos (Aguas Blancas, Salta, Argentina, 405m); December 2009
Updated as per Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) de Venezuela, Compilado por: Maria Esperanza Chacon; December 2009
Updated as per personal communication with Juan Ramon Collart (Jarden Botanico Lancetilla, Cortes, Honduras, 30m, December 9, 2009); December 2009
Updated as per Catalogo de las Especies de Sphingidae en Honduras, Ana Clariza Samayoa and Ronald D. Cave; December 2009
Updated as per personal communication with Peter Bruce-Jones (San Pedro, Manu, Peru; 1500m); February 4, 2010
Updated as per SHILAP publication: Lista de Sphingidae del Uruguay, September, 2010; Msc Gabriela Bentancur Viglione; January 31, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Peter Bruce-Jones (Shima, Junin, Peru; 500m; June 12, 2010); February 10, 2011
Updated as per French Guiana Sphingidae; March 10, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Andres Urbas (Camp Caiman near Kaw, French Guiana, February 9, 2011); May 9, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Attila Steiner (San Pedro, Cusco, Peru, July 2010): June 7, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Brian Fletcher (Eldorado Lodge, Santa Marta Mountains, La Guarjira, Colombia, March 15, 2009); March 14, 2014
Updated as per personal communication with Robert Behrstock (Eldorado Lodge, Santa Marta Mountains, Magdalena, Colombia); June 7, 2014
Updated as per personal communication with Sergio D. Rios Diaz in CATOLOGO DE LOS SPHINGIDAE (INSECTA: LEPIDOPTERA) DEPOSITADOS EN EL MUSEO NACIONAL DE HISTORIA NATURAL DEL PARAGUAY; sent to me in July 2014 by Sergio D. Rios Diaz.
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 personal communication with John Valhalla via Renato Mattei (Ibague, Tolima, Colombia); July 20, 2018
Updated as per Hawk-moths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of Trinidad, West Indies: an illustrated and annotated list; Matthew J.W. Cock; March 31, 2022

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus
ad-heh-MAHRR-ee-usMgan-NAS-kus
(Stoll, 1790) Sphinx

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus courtesy of Paolo Mazzei.

Adhemarius gannascus, Eldorado Lodge, Santa Marta Mountains, La Guarjira, Colombia,
March 15, 2009, courtesy of Brian Fletcher.

Adhemarius gannascus, Eldorado, Santa Marta Mountains, Magdalena, Colombia,
courtesy of Robert Behrstock.

Adhemarius gannascus, Ibague, Tolima, Colombia,
July 20, 2018, courtesy of John Valhalla.

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

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Sphingoidea, Dyar, 1902
Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802
Subfamily: Sphinginae, Latreille, 1802
Tribe: Smerinthini, Grote & Robinson, 1865
Genus: Adhemarius, Oiticica, 1939
Species: gannascus gannascus, (Stoll, 1790)

DISTRIBUTION:

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus (wingspan: males: 92-112mm; females: 98-124 mm) flies in
Mexico: Oaxaca: Huautla (Ernesto Alvarado Reyes); Quintana Roo (BT) and elsewhere;
Belize: Corozol, Orange Walk, Cayo, Stann Creek, Toledo;
Guatemala: Izabal (JM);
El Salvador;
Honduras: Atlantida, Cortes (JRC), Francisco Morazan, La Paz, Olancho, Yoro;
Nicaragua: Madriz, Jinotega, Matagalpa, Chinandega, Leon, Granada, Isla de Ometepe, Chontales, Zelaya, Rio San Juan;
Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Lemon, Alajuela, Carthage, Heredia, San Jose;
Panama;
Colombia: La Guarjira (BF); Magdalena: Eldorado Lodge, Santa Marta Mountains (RB); Tolima: Ibague (JV);
Ecuador;
Peru: Junin; Cusco: San Pedro; Madre de Dios;
Venezuela: Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Distrito Federal, Falcon, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia;
Trinidad;
probably Guyana;
Suriname (specimen type locality);
French Guiana: Kaw;
Bolivia: La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz;
Brazil;
northern Argentina: Corientes, Missiones, (Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman (EB));
southern Paraguay: Presidente Hayes, Concepcion, Amambay, San Pedro, Canindeyu, Cordillera, Caaguazu, Alto Parana, Paraguari, Guaira, Caazapa, Itapua, Neembucu (AOC);
Uruguay.

Adhemarius gannascus male courtesy of Hubert Mayer copyright.

Ambulyx rostralis (Boisduval, 1870), Nicaragua, is same as gannascus gannascus
Ambulyx janus (Boisduval, 1870), Guatemala, is same as gannascus gannascus
Ambulyx daphne (Boisduval, [1875]), Brazil, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. connexa (Closs, 1911), Brazil, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. fulvescens (Closs, 1911), Mexico, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. grisescens (Closs, 1911), Colombia, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. rubra (Closs, 1911), Venezuela, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. acostalis (Closs, 1915), Mexico, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. interrupta (Closs, 1915), Mexico, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. mollis (Gehlen, 1928), Brazil, is same as gannascus gannascus
Amplypterus f. magicus (Gehlen, 1928), Colombia, is same as gannascus gannascus

Visit Adhemarius gannascus female, Camp Caiman near Kaw, French Guiana, February 9, 2011, courtesy of Andres Urbas.

Visit Adhemarius gannascus female, Rio Venado, Junin, Peru, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Visit Adhemarius gannascus, Jard�n Bot�nico Lancetilla, Cortes, Honduras, 30m, December 9, 2009, courtesy of Juan Ramon Collart.

Visit Adhemarius gannascus, San Pedro, Manu, Cusco, Peru; Shima, Junin, Peru; courtesy of Peter Bruce-Jones.

Visit Adhemarius gannascus, San Pedro, Cusco, Peru, July 2010, courtesy of Attila Steiner.

Visit Adhemarius gannascus, Ibague, Tolima, Colombia, July 20, 2018, courtesy of John Valhalla.

Adhemarius gannascus male, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Adhemarius gannascus male underside, Costa Rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus adults have been taken at lights in every month of the year in Costa Rica. There are February and August reports from French Guiana; a July 2010 flight in San Pedro, Cusco, Peru (AS).

Adhemarius gannascus, Trapp Family Lodge, 1Km from Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve,
Costa Rica, June 6th 2005, courtesy of Mark Dennis via Andy Adcock.

Adhemarius gannascus form interrupta ??, Arenal Lodge, Costa Rica,
September 22, 2008, courtesy of Tony James.

In Bolivia this species has been taken in August-September and December.

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus larvae feed upon Lauraceae (Rubiacaeae) and Ocotea veraguensis, Persea povedae, Persea americana and Nectandra salicina.

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

EGGS, LARVAE AND PUPAE:

Color morphs of larva courtesy of Dan Janzen.:

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus yellow morph.

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus green from (common).

Adhemarius gannascus gannascus pale green from with red dots.

Development from pupation to adult emergence is less than three weeks (sixteen to eighteen days). The pupa is dark chestnut, smooth and shiny.

I suspect the larvae will pupate in dark buckets under layers of paper towels as opposed to more natural underground pupation.

Larval Food Plants


Listed below are primary food plant(s) and alternate food plants. It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

Nectandra salicina
Ocotea veraguensis.......
Persea americana
Persea povedae

Nectandra salicina
Ocotea veraguensis
Avocado, Alligator pear
Persea povedae

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