Erinnyis alope

Erinnyis alope, the Alope sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It lives from the northern part of South America, through Central America, up to Northern Mexico and the very south of the United States, although strays have been recorded as far north as Arkansas and Kansas.

Alope sphinx
Erinnyis alope, adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Erinnyis
Species:
E. alope
Binomial name
Erinnyis alope
(Drury, 1770)[1]
Synonyms
  • Sphinx alope Drury, 1773
  • Sphinx fasciata Swainson, 1823
  • Sphinx flavicans Goeze, 1780
  • Anceryx edwardsii Butler, 1881

The wingspan is 82–100 mm. The upperside of the forewing is dark brown with short yellowish streaks on the forward half and wavy yellowish bands on the rear half. The upperside of the hindwing is bright yellow with a wide dark brown border. The body is streamlined and checkered.[2]

Adults are on wing year-round in the tropics, as well as southern Florida. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Asystasia gangetica.

The larva eat Papaya (Carica papaya), Cassava (Manihot esculenta),[3] Nettlespurge (Jatropha), and Allamanda (Allamanda).

Subspecies
  • Erinnyis alope alope (from northern Argentina and Uruguay north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to southern Florida, southern Texas, southern New Mexico and southern Arizona)
  • Erinnyis alope dispersa Kernbach, 1962 (Galapagos Islands)

References
  1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  2. "Silkmoths". Silkmoths.bizland.com. 2002-09-07. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  3. Thomas Becker. "FYN Topic: Papaya and Cassava Host Plants for Sphinx Moth" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-08-06.


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