DISTRIBUTION:

Lintneria maura (Wing span: approximately 80mm) flies in
Argentina: Cordoba, Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman (2000m); and
Bolivia: La Paz (1900m), Santa Cruz (450m).

Lintneria maura, Amancay, Cordoba, Argentina,
December 2008, courtesy of Dr. Carlos Marzano.

In his The Hawk Moths of North America, 2007, James P. Tuttle has assigned all the Sphinx genus species from Mexico south throughout South American to Lintneria, Butler, 1876, based on consistent differences in wing characters and significant larval differences.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Lintneria maura adults fly from May into October in Bolivia at elevations up to 1900m.

Sphinx maura, Tafe de Valle, Tucuman, Argentina,
wingspan: 80mm, November 26, 2008, 2000m, courtesy of Nigel Venters.

They have been reported from Argentina in November-December at elevations up to 2000m.

Lintneria maura, Amancay, Cordoba, Argentina,
December 2008, courtesy of Dr. Carlos Marzano.

Dr. Carlos Marzano confirms a December flight in Cordoba, Argentina. Specimens have been taken at elevations of 384-1471m in October, November, December and February in Argentina.

Lintneria maura, Amancay, Cordoba, Argentina,
December 2008, courtesy of Dr. Carlos Marzano.

ECLOSION:

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

Lintneria maura, Amancay, Cordoba, Argentina,
December 2008, courtesy of Dr. Carlos Marzano.

SCENTING AND MATING:

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

Lintneria maura, Amancay, Cordoba, Argentina,
December 2008, courtesy of Dr. Carlos Marzano.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Please visit my special request for images of Lintneria species larvae at Lintneria larvae, and help if you can.

It is anticipated that the Lintneria larvae will most often be encountered on Lamiaceae: Salvia (Sage), Mentha (Mints), Monarda (Beebalm) and Hyptis (Bushmints); Verbenaceae: Verbena and Lantana camara (shrub verbenas or lantanas).

Although they may be encountered feeding during daylight hours, one is even more likely to discover them feeding in the evening or after dark.

Two of the greatest clues for discovering larvae are stripped foliage and droppings beneath the plant. You might be quite surprised at what will turn up in the evening or after dark in a flashlight assisted search.

It is believed that all "Lintneria larvae will exhibit "a fleshy thoracic dorsal "horn" in the first 4 instars (unique in the Sphingidae of the world to my knowledge) which is replaced by a thoracic dorsal "hump" with a large black patch in the 5th instar." J.A. Tuttle.

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