DISTRIBUTION:

Manduca lefeburii (Wing span: 8.9 - 11.0 cm, females larger than males), flies in forests in
Bolivia (specimen type locality);
Venezuela;
and generally from Mexico and Belize to
Ecuador;
Paraguay: Concepcion, Amambay; Presidente Hayes, San Pedro, Canindeyu, Alto Parana, Caaguazu, Cordillera, Paraguari, Itapua (PS) and (probably/possibly Guaira, Central, Amambay and Caazapa);
Brazil: Rio de Janeiro; southern Maranhao; (probably throughout Brazil) and
Argentina: Misiones; Tucuman (JRR).

In Bolivia it has been taken in Santa Cruz: Warnes; and Ipati (1000m), Department of Santa Cruz.

In Central America it is reported in
Belize: Cayo;
Guatemala: El Progresso (TS);
Nicaragua: Rio San Juan;
Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Alajuela, Heredia, San Jose.

By interpolation it should also be in Colombia and Peru. Albert Thurman confirms it in Panama.

Manduca lefeburii, Palo Seco Forest Reserve, Bocas del Toro, Panama,
September 26, 2019, courtesy of Albert Thurman.

The moth is named for M. Lefébure de Cerisy.

Similar to Manduca andicola, Manduca incisa and Manduca jasminearum in having a relatively uniform forewing upperside with a conspicuous, if rather diffuse, dark band running from about midway along the costa to the outer margin near vein CuA1 and incorporating the discal spot.Distinguished from Manduca incisa by the lack of a narrow black mesial line on the abdomen upperside; by the forewing upperside not being paler proximal to the transverse band than distal to it; by the distal costal mark being less conspicuous; and by the shorter apical line. CATE

Manduca lefeburii, Paraguay, PYBIO

Manduca lefeburii, Brasil, Poté, Minas Gerais, November 11, 2004, courtesy of Frederik Goussey.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Manduca lefeburii adults fly as at least two broods in Costa Rica with most adults on the wing with the onset of the rainy season in May to June; a second flight (much smaller) seems to follow August through December.

In Bolivia they have been observed in October-December.

Manduca lefeburii male, courtesy of Hubert Mayer, id by Jean Haxaire

Terry Stoddard reports a June flight in El Progresso, Guatemala.

Manduca lefeburii, Hacienda La Vega, 10km N El Rancho Jct, El Progresso, Guatemala,
June 11, 2015, 300m, 115mm, courtesy of Terry Stoddard.

ECLOSION:

Pupae probably wiggle to surface from subterranean chambers just prior to eclosion.

Manduca lefeburii male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Manduca lefeburii 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 Casearia arguta, Casearia sylvestris and Casearia corymbosa of the Flacourtiaceae family.

Larvae are subject to parasitization by Microplitis espinachi of the Braconidae family.

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