Xylophanes germen courtesy of Paolo Mazzei.

Xylophanes germen, El Copan, Cartago, Costa Rica,
March 6, 2019, 1047m, courtesy of Gernot Kunz.

The images on this page provided by Gernot Kunz show a moth with very little to no crenulation in the forewing outer margin. Thus they appear more consistent with the description of X. germen yurokano which supposed replaces nominate germen in most of South America. The BOLD website shows both subspecies with and without forewing crenulation. Apparently that character is not useful in determining subspecies.

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: Macroglossini, Harris, 1839 Genus: Xylophanes Hubner [1819] ........... Species: germen Schaus, 1890

DISTRIBUTION:

Xylophanes germen moths (wingspan: 72-80 mm] fly from
Costa Rica: Puntarenas; Cartago (GK)
Guatemala: Izabal (JM); to
Mexico, the specimen type locality.

Xylophanes brevis, which Kitching and Cadiou 2000 equate with Xylophanes germen, flies in Venezuela.

CATE lists it in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama: Chiriqui: Mount Totumas, 1880m (GJ), Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, but I do not know where the geographical delineation is between nominate germen and subspecies yurakano. Yurakano, supposedly, has a smoother forewing outer margin and less contrasting pattern. Generally it seems that nominate germen is in Central America and germen yurakano is in South America (based on BOLD website), but the specimen above from Cartago, Costa Rica has a relatively smooth forewing outer margin. Its appearance is more in harmony with X. germen yurakano.

Xylophanes germen (verso), El Copan, Cartago, Costa Rica,
March 6, 2019, 1047m, courtesy of Gernot Kunz.

CATE: "Forewing with a crenulated outer margin.

"Forewing upperside ground colour olive green-grey; transverse lines indistinct, basal and two antemedian lines curved outward from inner margin and then back towards the costa; three postmedian bands running transversely across the wing, distal to which may be a variably developed paler patch between M2 and CuA1, and an orange-brown patch between M3 and the inner margin (both may be absent in some specimens)."

Xylophanes brevis, Venezuela, from Hawkmoths of Venezuela,
courtesy of Dr. María Esperanza Chacín and José Clavijo A., Ph.D.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Xylophanes germen adults fly in every month of the year in Costa Rica.

Xylophanes germen male, 72mm, Costa rica, courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Xylophanes germen, Mount Totumas, Chiriqui, Panama,
July 16, 2016, 1880m, courtesy of Galerita Janus, id by Bill Oehlke.

ECLOSION:

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

Xylophanes germen 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. Males come in to lights very readily, but females are seldom taken in that way.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae feed on Psychotria correae, Psychotria elata, Psychotria eurycarpa and Exostema mexicanum and probably other members of the Rubiaceae family.

Eclosions from pupae occur within three weeks of pupation.

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