TAXONOMY:
Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 |
MIDI MUSICcopyright C. Odenkirk ON.OFF |
Jean Marie Cadiou writes, "This subspecies is on most islands, including Kauai. Calida hawaiiensis is only on the Big Island, and so is H. wilsoni. The difference between c. calida and c. hawaiiensis is only visible on the hindwing."
In hawaiiensis the hw basal area is orange, while the same area in calida is black.
Hyles calida calida, posed (above and below), Kauai, Hawaii, courtesy of Daniel Rubinoff.
Laurie Henneman reports them from the Alaka`i Swamp, island of Kaua`i, and writes, "This species is not a usual resident of the swamp, but is more abundant in drier forest. I collected only 5 caterpillars in two years, although one night at a blacklight I attracted several adults at the drier of my two plots. It is likely that dry weather in the swamp over the previous several years made the habitat more accessible to H. calida."
Hyles calida larva courtesy of Laurie Henneman.
Those who first published descriptions and
assigned scientific names to many insects, simply chose names of
biblical or mythological origin without any real descriptive
qualities. Their purpose was simply to set a standard for purposes
of identification by assigned name. On some occasions, names,
mostly of Latin or Greek origin, were chosen to signify a particular
character of the genus or of an individual species.
In Greek mythology, Hyles is one of the centaur warriors who fights
against the lapiths.
The species name, "calida", is from the Greek feminine
name, "Calida", meaning the most beautiful.
The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages,
are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal
ears as they read.
There are many collectors from different countries whose
intonations and accents would be different.
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