Manduca vestalis by Steve Graser, Yasuni, Ecuador, September 7, 2002 - 12:35 AM.

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TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Sphinginae, Latreille, [1802] Tribe: Sphingini, Latreille, 1802 Genus: Manduca Hubner, [1807] ........... Species: vestalis (Jordan, 1917)

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DISTRIBUTION:

Manduca vestalis (approx wingspan: males: 110mm; females: 130mm) flies in
Brazil, (specimen type locality); Para;
Venezuela;
French Guiana: Kaw; and
Ecuador: Napo and Pastaza: Yasuni;
probably northwestern Bolivia.

I suspect it also flies in Colombia, Peru, Guyana and Suriname.

There is only one prominent, thin but distinct, S-shaped, post median line on the left forewing. The other "pmlines" are broadly diffuse. Ground colour is light grey, often with a yellowish cast. There are two dark dashes below the cell and the upper half of the median area is darker than the lower half.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Manduca vestalis adults fly in November and possibly throughout the year. In Kaw, French Guiana, there is an August flight, and it probalby flies there in other months.

ECLOSION:

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

SCENTING AND MATING:

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

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larval hosts are unknown to me.

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