Macroglossum corythus (Walker, 1856)
(one synonym : Macroglossa pylene)
MACROGLOSSINAE, SPHINGIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

(updated 10 December 2005)


(Photo: courtesy of Dr J. D. Holloway and Mike J. Bascombe)

This Caterpillar has several colour forms including green and dark brown. It is speckled with yellow dots, and has a purple-edged white dorsolateral band. There are yellow spots each side of the body fading to white at the tail. The tail has a forward curving spike with yellow granulations, which is fearsome but quite harmless. Other colour forms of the Caterpillar are chocolate brown and also black. It has been reported to feed on various plants, including :

  • Strychnine Plant ( Strychnos nux-vomica, LOGANIACEAE ),
  • Guettarda ( Guettarda species, RUBIACEAE )
  • Indian Mulberry ( Morinda citrifolia, RUBIACEAE ),
  • Skunk Vine ( Paederia foetida, RUBIACEAE ), and
  • Chinese Fevervine ( Paederia scandens, RUBIACEAE ).

    The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 7 cms.


    (Photo: courtesy of Tony Pittaway and Ian Kitching)

    The adult moths have brown forewings with a faint sinuous pattern. The hindwings are dark brown with a broad diagonal yellow band across each one. The body is brown with a bunch of hairs on the tail.

    The species is found as various subspecies across south-east Asia, from the Cocos Islands to New Caledonia, including

  • Borneo,
  • Hong Kong,
  • Thailand, and
  • Queensland, Australia.

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