Erinnyis ello female courtesy of Paolo Mazzei.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839 Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878 Genus: Erinnyis Hubner, [1819] ........... Species: ello Linnaeus, 1758

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DISTRIBUTION:

The Ello Sphinx Moth, Erinnyis ello (Wing span: 2 15/16 - 3 5/16 inches (7.5 - 8.5 cm)), flies in tropical and subtropical lowlands and foothills from Argentina and Brazil; Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso (JvB), north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to south Florida, Texas, Arizona, southern California, and southern Nevada. This species strays northward from July through October. India (in error) is given as the specimen type locality. West Indies was probably intended.

Erinnyis ello female, Ottley Plantation, St. Kitts, courtesy of Tony and Pat James.

The abdomen has very distinct gray and black bands. The female's forewing upperside is pale gray with a few dark dots near the outer margin. The male's forewing upperside is dark gray and brown with a black band running from the base to the tip. In both sexes, the hindwing upperside is orange with a wide black border.

Visit Stepanie Sanchez's Erinnyis ello images from southern Florida.

Erinnyis ello male, Ottley Plantation, St. Kitts, courtesy of Tony and Pat James.

Erinnyis ello, north Misiones Province, Argentina,
December 2005, courtesy of Oz Rittner.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Erinnyis ello broods continuously in the tropics and in south Florida.

I have seen an image from Merida, Venezuela, from mid January.

Johan van't Bosch reports a September flight in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Milena Nascimento sent me an image of a specimen collected on March 28, 2004, while nectaring at dusk on flowers, including bouncing bet (Saponaria officinalis) and Asystasia gangetica in Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba, Carapebus, RJ, Brazil.

Nigel Venters has taken them in Cordoba Province, Argentina in November-December. They probably fly in other months as well.

ECLOSION: Adults eclose from pupae formed in loose cocoons spun among surface litter. Erinnyis ello pupa 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.

Erinnyis ello male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Erinnyis ello female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae feed on papaya (Carica papaya) in the Caricaceae family and on Cnidoscolus angustidens and other plants in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) including poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), guava (Psidium species) in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) and on also saffron plum (Bumelia angustifolia/Bumelia celastrina) in the Sapotaceae family. : EUPHORBIACEAE. Manilkara bahamensis has also been reported as a host as have Willow Bustic (Bumelia salicifolia) and Painted Leaf (Poinsettia heterophylla).

Erinnyis ello green form courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Erinnyis ello dorsal view courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Erinnyis ello dark form courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Erinnyis ello green form courtesy of Bruce Walsh.

Erinnyis ello, October 24, 2005,
Bentsen-RGV State Park, Mission, Hidalgo County, courtesy of Mike Quinn.

Larvae can be quite varied as per the intermediate form below.

Erinnyis ello, October 25, 2006, western Hidalgo County, courtesy of Gil Quintanilla,
tentative id by Bill Oehlke, confirmed by Jim Tuttle.

Visit Miami-Dade County, Florida, to see very nice images of larvae and adult male.

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