Macroglossum faro 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 southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, 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...

, south-eastern China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, southern Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (Ryukyu Archipelago), Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Malaysia (Peninsular, Sarawak) and 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...

 (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan).

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 74-78 mm. It is the largest known Macroglossum

Macroglossum

Macroglossum is a genus of moths in the Sphingidae family. It has over 110 described species.-Species:*Macroglossum adustum - Rothschild & Jordan 1916*Macroglossum aesalon - Mabille 1879*Macroglossum affictitia - Butler 1875...

species. It is similar in colour and pattern to Macroglossum passalus

Macroglossum passalus

Macroglossum passalus is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, south-eastern China, Taiwan, southern Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines....

, but the thorax upperside and sometimes the first abdominal tergites are green, with no sharply defined dark area on the mesothoracic tegula. The abdomen has yellow patches which are comparatively smaller. The hindwing underside base is obviously shaded with yellow.

Subspecies

• Macroglossum faro faro
• Macroglossum faro cottoni Cadiou, 2000 (Sulawesi)