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

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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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Enyo gorgon gorgon courtesy of Paolo Mazzei.

DISTRIBUTION:

Enyo gorgon gorgon (wingspan: approx. 66-72 mm) flies in
Mexico 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;
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.

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.

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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