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 Jose Monzon (Guatemala); May 2009
Updated as per AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SPHINGIDAE OF BOLIVIA, December, 2009
Updated as per Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) de Venezuela, Compilado por: Maria Esperanza Chacon; December 2009
Updated as per CATE (description; Mexico, Guyana, Peru, Brazil) 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 Sergio D. Rios Diaz in CAT�LOGO 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 Francierlem Oliveira (Extremoz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, July 9, 2017), May 17, 2018
Updated as per Hawk-moths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of Trinidad, West Indies: an illustrated and annotated list; Matthew J.W. Cock; March 31, 2022

Aleuron iphis

Aleuron iphis male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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: iphis Walker, 1856

DISTRIBUTION:

Aleuron iphis, (wingspan 52-57 mm), flies in
Mexico;
Belize: Corozol;
Guatemala (JM);
Nicaragua: Rio San Juan;
Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Heredia; to
Venezuela: Aragua, Bolivar, Monagas, Portugeusa;
Trinidad: possible but unconfirmed;
Guyana;
Bolivia: La Paz, Santa Cruz;
with specimen type locality in Brazil: Roraima, Rio Madeira; Maranhao; Rio Grande do Norte: Extremoz (FO);
Argentina: Misiones;
Paraguay: Paraguari;
Peru: Rio Madeira.

Aleuron iphis, Extremoz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil,
July 9, 2017, courtesy of Francierlem Oliveira.

Upperside of abdomen with a conspicuous basal white belt, the following tergites brownish. Palps slightly angulated laterally. Forewing upperside crossed medially by four back lines, the basalmost bordered with white basally and distally. Forewing underside with a brown median patch that is contiguous with the discal cell between M1 and CuA1 and extends basad posteriorly. CATE

FLIGHT TIMES:

Aleuron iphis adults fly from at least July to January in Costa Rica. Francierlem Oliveira reports a July flight in Extremoz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae formed in shallow subterranean chambers.

Aleuron iphis 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.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

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

In the early instars, this species has a long tail and a white belt.
In the final instar the larva is green with brown diamonds down the back. There is a brown color morph. The elongated tail is now gone and the larva has a releatively narrow "neck" and head.


Caterpillars pupate in underground chambers. Pupae are smooth and shiny, and attractively "marked." Pupal stage is usually about 18 days except for diapause during dry season.

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