Daphnis placida is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Sphingidae

Sphingidae

Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...

 family. It is known from Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Malaysia, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 (including Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

), the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 and the northern half of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 60 mm. Adults have a complex pattern of light and dark brown on the wings and a white bar across the first abdominal segment. The outer margin of the forewing is more obviously excavated below the apex than in other Daphnis

Daphnis (genus)

Daphnis is a genus of moths in the Sphingidae family.-Species:*Daphnis dohertyi - Rothschild, 1897*Daphnis hayesi - Cadiou, 1988*Daphnis hypothous - *Daphnis layardii - Moore, 1882*Daphnis minima - Butler, 1876...

species.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on Alstonia constricta

Alstonia constricta

Alstonia constricta, commonly known as Quinine Bush or Bitterbark, is an endemic Australian endemic shrub or small tree of the family Apocynaceae.-Growth:...

, Neisosperma kilneri and Tabernaemontana angustisepala. They are green with a pale stripe along each side of the back. There are some yellow markings on each side of the thorax. The caterpillar often has an “S” shaped reddish tail spine.

Subspecies

• Daphnis placida placida
• Daphnis placida salomonis Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Solomon Islands)