Erinnyis obscura

Erinnyis obscura, the obscure sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1775. It lives from the northern part of South America up to the central United States.

Erinnyis domingonis, now considered a synonym of Erinnyis obscura

Obscure sphinx
Underside
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Erinnyis
Species:
E. obscura
Binomial name
Erinnyis obscura
Synonyms
  • Sphinx obscura Fabricius, 1775
  • Sphinx picta Sepp, 1848
  • Sphinx rustica Schaller, 1788
  • Anceryx rhaebus Boisduval, 1870
  • Dilophonota festa Edwards, 1882
  • Erinnyis cinerosa Grote, 1865
  • Erinnyis domingonis (Butler, 1875)
  • Erinnyis domingonis pallescens Clark, 1936
  • Erinnyis obscura jamaicensis Clark, 1935

The wingspan is 56–65 mm. Females have almost uniformly gray forewings with black markings on the basal half and near the center of the costa, although some are nearly all black. The upperside of the male forewing is pale gray with black markings and a black line in the center running from the base to about three-fourths of the wing length. In both sexes, the hindwing upperside is orange with a narrow black border.[2]

Adults are on wing year round in the tropics, southern Florida and southern Texas.

The caterpillars feed on various members of the family Apocynaceae, including Rauvolfia ligustrina, Rauvolfia tetraphylla, Stemmadenia obovata, Philibertia, Cynanchum and Carica papaya as well as Asclepiadaceae and spurge species, including Blepharodon mucronatum, Funastrum clausum and Morrenia odorata.

Subspecies
  • Erinnyis obscura obscura (tropical and subtropical lowlands from Uruguay west to Bolivia and Argentina and north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to Florida, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. Strays recorded up to Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota and Pennsylvania)
  • Erinnyis obscura conformis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (Galapagos Islands)
  • Erinnyis obscura socorroensis Clark, 1926 (Revillagigedo 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. "Erinnyis obscura (Fabricius, 1775) Obscure Sphinx Moth". Silkmoths. Archived from the original on 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2011-10-19.


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