Sphingidae
Encyclopedia
- For a complete species list of this family, see the Sphingidae species listSphingidae species listThis list is the world-spanning species list for the Family Sphingidae of moths , commonly known as Hawk-Moths. This list contains all known species of Sphingidae in order of subfamily. There should be about 1,288 species listed...
.
Sphingidae is a family of moths (Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
), commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species (Grimaldi & Engel, 2005). It is best represented in the tropics
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
but there are species in every region (Scoble, 1995). They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid, sustained flying ability (Scoble, 1995). The narrow wings and streamlined abdomen are adaptations for rapid flight.
Some hawk moths, like the hummingbird hawk moth, hover in midair while they feed on nectar from flowers and are sometimes mistaken for hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
s. This hovering capability has evolved only three times in nectar feeders: in hummingbirds, certain bats, and these sphingids (Kitching, 2002) (an example of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
). Sphingids have been much studied for their flying ability, especially their ability to move rapidly from side to side while hovering, called 'swing-hovering.' It is thought that this evolved to deal with ambush predators that lie in wait in flowers (Kitching, 2002).
Sphingids are some of the fastest flying insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, some are capable of flying at over 50 km/h (30 miles per hour). They have a wingspan of 35-150 mm.
Life cycle
Eggs
Females lay translucent greenish, flattened, smooth eggs (Scoble, 1995). Eggs are usually laid singly (Grimaldi & Engel, 2005) on the host plants (Pittaway, 1993). Egg development time varies highly, from 3 to 21 days (Pittaway, 1993).Larvae
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s are medium to large in size, with stout bodies. They have 5 pairs of prolegs (Pittaway, 1993). Usually their bodies lack any hairs or tubercules, but most species have a "horn" at the posterior end (Scoble, 1995), which may be reduced to a button, or absent, in the final instar
Instar
An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt , until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, or...
(Pittaway, 1993). Many are cryptic
Crypsis
In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. It may be either a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation, and methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, and mimicry...
greens and browns, and have countershading patterns to conceal them. Others are more conspicuously coloured, typically with white spots on a black or yellow background along the length of the body. A pattern of diagonal slashes along the side is a common feature. When resting, the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
usually holds the legs off the surface and tucks its head underneath, which gives rise to the name 'sphinx moth' (Pittaway 1993). Some tropical larvae are thought to mimic snakes (Scoble, 1995). Larvae are quick to regurgitate their sticky, often toxic, foregut
Foregut
The foregut is the anterior part of the alimentary canal, from the mouth to the duodenum at the entrance of the bile duct. At this point it is continuous with the midgut...
contents on attackers such as ants and parasitoids (Pittaway, 1993). Development rate depends on temperature, and to speed development some northern and high altitude species sunbathe (Pittaway, 1993).
Larvae burrow into soil to go into chrysalis, where they remain for 2–3 weeks before they emerge as adults.
Pupae
In some sphingidae, the pupa has a free proboscis, rather than being fused to the pupal case as is most common in Macrolepidoptera (Scoble, 1995). They have a cremaster at the tip of the abdomen (Pittaway, 1993). Usually they pupate off the host plant, in an underground chamber, among rocks, or in a loose cocoon (Pittaway, 1993). In most species, the pupa is the overwintering stage.Adults
Description
Antennae are generally not very feathery, even in the males (Scoble, 1995). They lack tympanal organTympanal organ
A tympanal organ is a hearing organ in insects, consisting of a membrane stretched across a frame backed by an air sac and associated sensory neurons...
s but members of the tribe Choerocampini have hearing organs on their heads (Scoble, 1995). They have a frenulum and retinaculum
Retinaculum (moth)
Some four-winged insect orders, such as the Lepidoptera, have developed a wide variety of morphological wing-coupling mechanisms in the imago which render these taxa as "functionally dipterous"...
to join hindwings and forewings (Scoble, 1995). The thorax, abdomen, and wings are densely covered in scales. Sphingids may have a reduced proboscis, but most have a very long proboscis (Scoble, 1995). They use it to feed on nectar from flowers. Most are crepuscular
Crepuscular
Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is during dawn and dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight." Crepuscular is, thus, in contrast with diurnal and nocturnal behavior. Crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright...
or nocturnal, but some species fly during the day (Pittaway, 1993). Both males and females are relatively long-lived (living 10 to 30 days) (Pittaway, 1993). Prior to flight, most species shiver their flight muscles to warm them up, and, during flight, body temperatures may surpass 40°C (Pittaway, 1993) .
In some species, sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
(differences in form between the sexes) is quite marked. For example, in the African species Herse convolvuli (the Convolvulus
Convolvulus
Convolvulus is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the bindweed family Convolvulaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names include bindweed and morning glory, both names shared with other closely related genera....
or Morning Glory Hawk Moth), the antennae are thicker and wing markings more mottled in the male than in the female. Only males have both an undivided frenular hook and a retinaculum. Also all male hawk moths have a partial comb of hairs along their antennae. (Pinhey
Elliot Pinhey
Elliot Charles Gordon Pinhey , was an entomologist who worked in Africa and specialised in African Lepidoptera and Odonata. Born of British parents on holiday in Belgium, Pinhey made major contributions in entomology to the knowledge of butterflies, moths and dragonflies...
, 1962) Females call males to them with pheromone
Pheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
s. The male may douse the female with a pheromone (Pittaway, 1993) before mating.
Behaviour
Some species fly only for short periods either around dusk or dawn, while other species only appear later in the evening and others around midnight. But such species may occasionally be seen feeding at flowers during the day. There are a few common species in Africa, such as Cephonodes hylas virescens (the Oriental Bee Hawk), Leucostrophus hirundo and Macroglossum trochilus, which are diurnal (Pinhey, 1962).Larvae
Saturniidae
The Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, are among the largest and most spectacular of the moths. They form a family of Lepidoptera, with an estimated 1,300 to 1,500 described species worldwide...
, sphingids eat soft young leaves of host plants with small toxic molecule
Molecule
A molecule is an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms held together by covalent chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from ions by their electrical charge...
s, and chew and mash the food into very small bits (Bernays & Janzen, 1988). Some species can tolerate quite high concentrations of specific toxins. Tobacco hornworm
Tobacco hornworm
Manduca sexta is a moth of the family Sphingidae present through much of the American continent. Commonly known as the tobacco hornworm, it is closely related to and often confused with the very similar tomato hornworm ; the larvae of both feed on the foliage of various plants from the family...
s, Manduca sexta, detoxify and rapidly excrete nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...
, as do several other related sphinx moths in the subfamilies Sphinginae
Sphinginae
The Sphinginae are a subfamily of the hawkmoths , moths of the order Lepidoptera. Notable taxa include the Pink-Spotted Hawkmoth, Agrius cingulata, being a very common and recognizable species, the death's-head hawkmoths of Silence of the Lambs fame, and Xanthopan morgani with its enormous...
and Macroglossinae
Macroglossinae (Lepidoptera)
The Macroglossinae are a sub-family of Sphingidae moths in the order Lepidoptera. The subfamily is divided into three tribes: Dilophonotini, Macroglossini and Philampelini.-References:*, All-Leps Barcode of Life...
, but members of Smerinthinae
Smerinthinae
The Smerinthinae are a sub-family of Sphingidae moths in the order Lepidoptera.-Smerinthinae Taxonomy:*Tribe Ambulycini*Tribe Smerinthini*Tribe Sphingulini- References :*, All-Leps Barcode of Life...
that were tested are susceptible (Wink & Thiele, 2002). The species that are able to tolerate the toxin do not sequester it in their tissues; 98% was excreted. However, other species, such as Hyles euphorbiae and Daphnis nerii do sequester toxins from their hosts, but do not pass them on to the adult stage (Pittaway, 1993).
Adults
Death's-head Hawkmoth
The name Death's-head Hawkmoth refers to any one of the three species of moth in the genus Acherontia. The former species is primarily found in Europe, the latter two are Asian, and most uses of the common name refer to the European species...
steals honey from bees (Pittaway, 1993). Night-flying sphingids tend to prefer pale flowers with long corolla tube and a sweet odour, a pollination syndrome
Pollination syndrome
Pollination syndromes are suites of flower traits that have evolved in response to natural selection imposed by different pollen vectors, which can be abiotic or biotic, such as birds, bees, flies, and so forth. These traits include flower shape, size, colour, odour, reward type and amount, nectar...
known as 'sphingophily' (Kitching, 2002). Some species are quite general in visitations, while others are very specific, with the plant only being successfully pollinated by a particular species of moth (Kitching, 2002). Orchids frequently have such specific relations with hawkmoths, and very long corolla tubes. The Comet Orchid, Angraecum sesquipedale
Angraecum sesquipedale
Angraecum sesquipedale is an epiphytic orchid in the genus Angraecum that is endemic to Madagascar. The orchid was first discovered by the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in 1798, but was not described until 1822...
, a rare Malagasy
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
flower with its nectar stored at the bottom of a 30 cm long tube, was described in 1822 by Aubert du Petit-Thouars, and later Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
famously predicted that there must be some specialised animal to feed from it:
"[A. sesquipetale has] nectaries 11 and a half inches long, with only the lower inch and a half filled with very sweet nectar [...] it is, however, surprising, that any insect should be able to reach the nectar: our English sphinxes have probosces as long as their bodies; but in Madagascar there must be moths with probosces capable of extension to a length of between 10 and 12 inches!" (Darwin, 1862:197-198)
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
published a sort of "wanted poster
Wanted poster
A wanted poster is a poster distributed to let the public know of an alleged criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the alleged criminal when a photograph is available, or of a facial composite image produced by a police artist...
" (properly, a drawing in a book) of what this butterfly might look like, and, concurring with his colleague, added:
"[The proboscis of a hawkmoth] from tropical Africa ([Xanthopan] morganii) is seven inches and a half. A species having a proboscis two or three inches longer could reach the nectar in the largest flowers of Angræcum sesquipedale, whose nectaries vary in length from ten to fourteen inches. That such a moth exists in Madagascar may be safely predicted, and naturalists who visit that island should search for it with as much confidence as astronomers searched for the planet NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
, – and they will be equally successful." (Wallace, 1867)
A possible species was discovered 21 years later, for which the hawkmoth in question was found and described as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the one mentioned by Wallace: Xanthopan morganii praedicta
Xanthopan morgani
Xanthopan morgani, or Morgan's Sphinx, is a very large hawk moth from West Africa and Madagascar. It is the sole member of its genus, and little is known of the biology, though the adults have been found to visit orchids .In January 1862 while researching insect pollination of orchids, Charles...
(Rothschild and Jordan, 1903), for which, the subspecific name praedicta ("the predicted one") was given. The subspecies has however been subsequently declared as invalid due to its similarity to mainland species.
Representative species
- Privet hawkmoth (Sphinx ligustri)
- Death's-head HawkmothDeath's-head HawkmothThe name Death's-head Hawkmoth refers to any one of the three species of moth in the genus Acherontia. The former species is primarily found in Europe, the latter two are Asian, and most uses of the common name refer to the European species...
(Acherontia atropos) - Lime Hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae)
- Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)
- Catalpa SphinxCeratomia catalpaeThe Catalpa Sphinx is a hawk moth of the Sphingidae family.-Range:Ceratomia catalpae is a native of southeastern North America and can be located on catalpa trees that grow within this region...
(Ceratomia catalpae) - Hummingbird hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)
- Elephant hawk moth (Deilephila elpenor)
- Vine hawk mothHippotion celerioHippotion celerio, known as the Vine Hawk-Moth or Silver-striped Hawk-Moth, is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found in Africa, Southern Europe, Central and Southern Asia and Australia. It can be found further north, because of its migratory nature.-Colouring and marks :The body and forewing...
(Hippotion celerio) - Spurge hawk mothHyles euphorbiaeThe Spurge Hawk-moth is a European moth of the family Sphingidae. This hawk moth is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed known as leafy spurge , but usually only in conjunction with other agents...
(Hyles euphorbiae) - Oleander hawk mothDaphnis neriiDaphnis nerii , known as the Oleander Hawk-moth, is a moth of the Sphingidae family.-Distribution:Daphnis nerii is a large hawk-moth found in wide areas of Africa and Asia...
(Daphnis nerii) - Tomato worm (Manduca quinquemaculata)
In popular culture
John LinnellJohn Linnell
John Sidney Linnell is an American musician, is known primarily as one half of Brooklyn, New York alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants...
, of the rock band They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
, reportedly wrote the song "Bee of the Bird of the Moth" (on their album The Else
The Else
The Else is the 12th studio album by rock duo They Might Be Giants, released by Idlewild Records in 2007. The album was produced in part by The Dust Brothers, along with Pat Dillett and the band....
) after he saw a "hummingbird moth", presumably one of the members of this family that resembles a hummingbird.
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
includes a sphinx moth in his short story, "The Sphinx". The main character mistakenly thinks that the moth on a window is a huge monster. Much to his surprise, his friend points out that it is in fact very close and not on a hill in the distance.
See also
- Sphingidae species listSphingidae species listThis list is the world-spanning species list for the Family Sphingidae of moths , commonly known as Hawk-Moths. This list contains all known species of Sphingidae in order of subfamily. There should be about 1,288 species listed...
- List of moths of India
- List of moths of Great Britain (Sphingidae)
External links
- Sphingidae of the United States
- Family Sphingidae at Lepidoptera.pro
- Pictures
- Australian Museum Fact Sheet - Hawk Moths
- CATE-Sphingidae: a recently initiated project to produce a "one-stop shop" for Sphingidae taxonomy
- CSIRO: Australian Moths Online - Sphingidae
- ACG Sphingidae of Costa Rica images.
- List of Sphingidae Types (Museum Witt München).
- Flickr Images, mosly excellent