Manduca schausi male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Sphinginae, Latreille, [1802] Tribe: Sphingini, Latreille, 1802 Genus: Manduca Hubner, [1807] ........... Species: schausi (Clark, 1919)

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DISTRIBUTION:

Manduca schausi (forewing length: males: 48mm; females: 64mm) (wingspan: 114 mm - 138 mm, females larger than males) flies in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (specimen type locality), and generally from
Mexico;
Guatemala: Izabal (JM);
Nicaragua: Esteli, Jinotega, Granada, Rio San Juan;
Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Alajuela, carthage, San Jose, Heredia;
Panama: Chiriqui; to
Colombia;
Venezuela: Barinas (JRAC);
Ecuador: Napo: Wildsumaco Lodge;
Peru;
Bolivia: La Paz: Murillo, Río Zongo, 750m; Nor Yungas, Coroico, 1200m; Santa Cruz: Sarah, 450m; and
now confirmed in Argentina: Tucuma (EB).

Manduca schausi, Wildsumaco Lodge, Napo, Ecuador,
March 1, 2011, courtesy of Pia Oberg.

Manduca schausi, Umbrellabird Lodge, Jocotoco Foundation Buenaventura Reserve,
near Pinas, El Oro, Ecuador,
February 28, 2014, 1200m, id by Jean Haxaire

Intermediate between Manduca lichenea and Manduca florestan, with similar pattern to both. General coloration on body and forewing grey with a green tinge, like Manduca florestan, but forewing upperside darker, especially the semicircular median area on the costal margin. Forewing narrower than Manduca florestan, more similar to Manduca lichenea, with similar concavity on the distal margin just anterior to the hind angle. Forewing upperside stigma much smaller than either Manduca lichenea or Manduca florestan. CATE

Note two short black dashes below white cell marking; white streak atop lower border of black apical marking.

Manduca schausi male, Napo, Ecuador,
May 5, 1997, 1150m, courtesy of Hubert Mayer,
identification corrected to M. schausi by Jean Haxaire.

Manduca schausi female, Napo, Ecuador,
November 20, 1998, 1150m, courtesy of Hubert Mayer,
identification corrected to M. schausi by Jean Haxaire.

Manduca schausi, three males and a female, Napo Ecuador,
November-December, courtesy of Hubert Mayer,
identification corrected to M. schausi by Jean Haxaire.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Manduca schausi adults fly in all months except March in Costa Rica, but main flight seems to be in May and June. Pia Oberg, however, reports a March flight in Ecuador.

Both males and females come to lights.

Manduca schausi, Costa-Rica, Tuis-Cartago, courtesy of Frederik Goussey.

ECLOSION:

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

Manduca schausi 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 Capsicum annuum and Lycopersicon esculentum.

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