Darapsa pholus by Bill Oehlke

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae Subfamily: Macroglossinae Genus: Darapsa (Walker, 1856) was Sphinx........... Species: pholus (Cramer, 17766)

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DISTRIBUTION:

The "Azalea Sphinx", Darapsa pholus, ranges from south eastern Canada to Florida westward to the Mississippi Valley. The lower wings of this hawkmoth are a solid brownish-orange, matching the body colour.

FLIGHT TIMES:

In Canada, the single-brooded Darapsa pholus adults fly in June and July. Double-brooded stock in New Jersey begins its second flight period in July. Females (tongue length = 22mm) respond far better to bait traps, but they also come in to lights. Once captured, the female hawkmoth will oviposit small green eggs on the inside of paper grocery bags. No feeding is necessary.

In Louisiana there are as many as eight Darapsa pholus broods beginning in March with emergence peaks at 30 day intervals.

ECLOSION:

Darapsa pholus larvae pupate in leaf litter at the base of the plant and emerge from a flimsy cocoon of a few strands of silk holding the litter in place.

SCENTING AND MATING

Females extend a scent gland from the posterior of the abdomen to lure in the night flying males. I put my reared females in screened cages and introduce wild males taken at lights. This hawkmoth mates readily and the couple remains paired until the following evening.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Pale green, spheroid eggs are readily deposited on brown paper bags without feeding of the females which come in to lights. The eggs incubate for 6-8 days depending upon temperature, and larvae progress rapidly. The extremely narrow head and neck (thorax) of this hornworm become evident in third instar.

The appetitites of these larvae increase dramatically in the final instar and a sleeve of thirty of them can quickly defoliate several viburnum stems. I prepare pupation buckets by filling bottoms with sun dried leaves to a depth of three inches. Larvae are usually found near the bottom of the rearing sleeve, clinging to its sides, when pupation is imminent. They are easily pealed off remay and placed in the dark, covered buckets. A loose cocoon, just a few strands of silk, is spun amongst the leaves and pupation occurs within 3-4 days. LIVESTOCK of this species is available every fall.

Darapsa pholus pupae are very lively and wiggle using strong, jerky movements from side to side when disturbed, revealing dark brown colouring between the lighter abdominal segments. Dark brown eyespots and spiracles are also clearly visible on the pupal shell.

These pupae will be stored in a cool, humid environment (ziploc container with two drips of water on a few layers of paper tissue) from September til May and June.

Larvae feed on Azalea and Viburnum and progress very rapidly. The larva to the left is getting ready to pupate. Color change from green to light burgundy-brown indicates pupation is imminent. Larvae descend plant stems to pupate in leaf litter near the surface. Pupae are a light brown with dark brown abdominal intersegments. Scan by Bill Oehlke.

I rear pholus outside on sleeved Viburnum cassinoides ( image of fall fruit to left). This is an understory shrub occasionally reaching heights of twelve feet. Most of the plants I encounter and use are five to eight feet tall. This plant also goes by witherod and wild raisin and is easy to start from seed. I also use it for Hemaris thysbe, putting captured females in a six foot sleeve over some live stems.

When I see first larvae turn color, I usually bring the remaining larvae indoors and let them eat cut food in plastic tubs.

Each morning I inspect tubs and lift out any larvae that have changed color. These are placed in a bucket with about three inches of thoroughly dried leaves. The larvae crawl down through the leaves and fashion a very flimsy cocoon out of a few strands of silk, used to bind several leaves together.

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