Updated as per AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SPHINGIDAE OF BOLIVIA, October 2007
Updated as per http://www.pybio.org/MACROGLOSSINAE.htm (Paraguay), October 2007
Updated as per More, Kitching and Cocucci's Hawkmoths of Argentina 2005, October, 2007
Updated as per personal communication with Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos (Argentina), Ocotber 2007
Updated as per personal communication with Johan van't Bosch (Mato Grosso, Brazil, August 23), March 2008
Updated as per personal communication with Vladimir Izersky (Rio Venado, Junin, Peru, 1050m, February 18, 2008), December 2008
Updated as per personal communication with Jose Monzon (Guatemala); May 2009
Updated as per Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) de Venezuela, Compilado por: María Esperanza Chacín; December 2009
Updated as per French Guiana Systematics; April 12, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Ben Trott (Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico); February 26, 2012

Enyo gorgon gorgon
EN-yohmmGOR-gon
(Cramer, 1777) Sphinx

Enyo gorgon, Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
August 23, 2007, 71m, courtesy/copyright of Johan van't Bosch.

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: Enyo Hubner, [1819] ...........
Species: gorgon gorgon (Cramer, 1777)

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copyright C. Odenkirk
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Enyo gorgon gorgon courtesy of Paolo Mazzei.

DISTRIBUTION:

Enyo gorgon gorgon (wingspan: approx. 66-72 mm) flies in
Mexico: Quintana Roo (BT) and elsewhere; and
Belize: Corozol, Cayo, probably Orange Walk through
Guatemala;
Honduras;
El Salvador;
Nicaragua;
Costa Rica;
Panama;
Venezuela: Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Distrito Federal, Miranda, Portuguesa, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy;
Guyana;
Suriname;
French Guiana: Kaw;
Brazil: Mato Grosso;
Colombia;
Ecuador;
Peru: Junin;
Paraguay: Presidente Hayes, Concepcion, San Pedro, Canindeyu, Alto Parana, Cordillera, Caaguazu, Paraguari, Guaira, Caazapa, (probably Central and Itapua (WO));
Argentina: Misiones and
Bolivia: "Santa Cruz: Andrés Ibáñez; La Paz: Larecaja, San Agustín, Mapiri, 3500'." Jean Haxaire.

Surinam is the specimen type locality.

Enyo gorgon, April, 2007, southern Yucatan peninsula, near Tulum, Mexico,
courtesy of Nina C. Wilde.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Enyo gorgon gorgon probably has two to three broods annually, with adults taken in Costa Rica from May to June, August to September and from December to January.

In Bolivia, specimens have been recorded in October-November. Johan van't Bosch reports an August flight in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Vladimir Izersky reports them on the wing in February in Peru.

Enyo gorgon female, Rio Venado, Junin, Peru,
February 18, 2008, 1050m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Early evening, just prior to 7:00 pm seems to be a popular flight time response to lights in Bolivia with both males and females coming to lights.

Enyo gorgon, Yacutinga Private Reserve, Misiones, Argentina,
September 2007, courtesy/copyright Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos.

Enyo gorgon female, Cerro Santa Ana, Misiones, Argentina,
August 12, 2010, courtesy/copyright Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae formed in subterranean chambers.


Enyo gorgon gorgon female courtesy of Dan Janzen.


Enyo gorgon gorgon male 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. Both males and females nectar at flowers. Females, active from 12:30 - 2:00 pm, are seldom taken at lights while males, active from 1:00 - 3:00 am, are more common.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae feed on Vitus tiliifolia and other members of the Vitaceae family.

The "horn" is very long in early instars and head is relatively large.

Ben Trott writes, "Enyo gorgon (x1). Found by mistake while cutting food for the Eumorpha species (they eat the same ivy/vine). I can't tell the difference between E. gorgon & E. cavifer larvae. At the moment I think I have 2 cavifer pupae & 1 gorgon larva, I'll see when they hatch." Ben sends the images below from Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Enyo gorgon third instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Enyo gorgon fourth instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Enyo gorgon fifth instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Enyo gorgon fifth instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Larvae also feed on Tetracera volubilis of the Dilleniaceae family. The "horn" is quite diminished in the final instar and now the head is small compared to body girth.

Eclosion from pupa is about four weeks after pupation. The pupa is dark and smooth with a long, sharp cremaster.

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