Manduca corallina male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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: Sphinginae, Latreille, [1802] Tribe: Sphingini, Latreille, 1802 Genus: Manduca Hubner, [1807] ........... Species: corallina (Druce, 1881)

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DISTRIBUTION:

Manduca corallina (Wingspan 104-110 mm, males smaller than females) flies from
Mexico (specimen type locality); and
Belize: Cayo, Stann Creek;
Nicaragua: Chinandega, Chontales;
Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Alajuela, Lemon, Puntarenas, Heredia; and south to
Venezuela.

Manduca corallina Pook's Hill Reserve, Cayo District, Belize,
June 23, 2006, courtesy of Brant Reif.

The white patch in the basal area seems characteristic of this sepcies.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Manduca corallina adults have been taken every month of the year in Costa Rica.

ECLOSION:

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

Manduca corallina 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. Adults take nectar from flowers.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae feed on Cordia alliodora of the Boraginaceae family. The larvae have a very rough skin, two dorsal yellow stripes and have side slashes on a green body.

It is Manduca corallina that lacks the pulvinus and Manduca lichenea that has a pulvinus and Manduca schausi, formerly Manduca lichenea, is from upper elevations while Manduca corallina is from lower elevations

Moths emerge about one month after pupation. The larvae lies on its back, in typical Manduca fashion, while pupating.

Larvae are subject to parasitization by Drino rhoeo of the Tachinidae family.

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