DISTRIBUTION:

The White-plagued Sphinx, Manduca albiplaga (Wing span: 4 3/4 - 7 inches (12 - 18 cm), females larger than males), flies in
Brazil (specimen type locality) and through Central America,
Mexico;
Belize: Toledo;
Guatemala: Izabal (JM);
Costa Rica: Puntarenas, Lemon, Heredia, San Jose;
to South America:
Colombia ??;
Ecuador;
Peru;
Argentina: Jujuy, Misiones;
Venezuela;
Trinidad: Radio and Tropospheric Scatter Station at Morne Bleu, (670m high in the northern range), June 27, 2011 (HK);
French Guiana: Kaw.

It also flies in Bolivia: La Paz: Murillo, Río Zongo, 750m; and in Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz, Janson; and in Ichilo, Buena Vista, 450; and in Mutún, 20 miles W of Puerto Suárez, 1500'; and in
Paraguay: Guaira and Canindeyu.

It probably also flies in Suriname and Guyana. This species has been found only once in the United States, in Kansas.

The upperside of the forewing is dark brown, "plagued" with two large white patches.

Manduca albiplaga male, courtesy of Hubert Mayer.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Manduca albiplaga adults fly as two broods from February - May and July - September in Costa Rica. Females are most active from 12:20 am until 2:00 am; males from 2:00 until 4:00. Males come in to lights, females do not.

In Bolivia it has been taken in November. Ezequiel osvaldo Nunez Bustos reports a September flight in Misiones, Argentina.

Manduca albiplaga, Yacutinga Private Reserve, Misiones, Argentina,
September 11, 2010, courtesy of Ezequiel Osvaldo Nunez Bustos

ECLOSION:

Pupae probably wiggle to surface from subterranean chambers just prior to eclosion.

Manduca albiplaga female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen. Adults take nectar from flowers.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Gregarious larvae have black anal horns and feed on Cordia in the Boraginaceae family and plants in the Annonaceae family, including Rollinia deliciosa. Larvae have also been reported on Manihot esculenta in Brazil (HOSTS).

Manduca albiplaga larva, Campo Ramon, Misiones, Argentina,
November 27, 2009, courtesy of Ezequiel Osvaldo Nunez Bustos.

Ezequiel writes, "I send this image of a Manduca albiplaga from Campo Ramón (Misiones), Argentina at 27/11/2009. This was at an unidentified plant, but it was not Manihot. When we touch, it was very agressive, moving the body and going down to the ground. It was very big, approx. 15 cms or more perhaps. We see only two caterpillars in the place."

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