Theretra clotho, the common hunter hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found from Sri Lanka, India (including the Andaman Islands), Nepal and Myanmar, east through China to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, and then south-east through South East Asia as far as the Lesser Sunda Islands and Timor in Indonesia.[2]

Theretra clotho
From India
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Theretra
Species:
T. clotho
Binomial name
Theretra clotho
(Drury, 1773)[1]
Synonyms
  • Sphinx clotho Drury, 1773
  • Deilephila cyrene Westwood, 1847
  • Chaerocampa bistrigata Butler, 1875
  • Chaerocampa aspersata Kirby, 1877

Description

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The wingspan is 70–100 mm.

Biology

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In Hong Kong, adults are on wing in multiple generations per year, with records from April to late October (peaks in mid-April, late May, mid-August and mid-October). In Korea, adults are on wing in August. In general though, adults are on wing from April or May to October throughout the southern range.

Larvae have been recorded feeding on Amorphophallus, Hibiscus, Parthenocissus, Saurauia and Vitis in Guangdong and Hong Kong. Other hosts include Cissus species, as well as Ampelopsis glandulosa in Japan and on Cissus hastata in Singapore. Elsewhere, other major host plant families include Actinidiaceae, Araceae, Begoniaceae, Dilleniaceae, Leeaceae, Malvaceae, Onagraceae, Urticaceae and Vitaceae.[3]

Subspecies

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  • Theretra clotho clotho
  • Theretra clotho vincenti Vaglia & Liyous, 2010 (Philippines)
  • Theretra clotho celata (Butler, 1877) (Moluccas east to Vanuatu and south to Australia)
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References

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  1. ^ "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2011-10-25.
  2. ^ Pittaway, A. R.; Kitching, I. J. (2018). "Theretra clotho clotho (Drury, 1773) -- Common hunter hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2023). "HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database at the Natural History Museum". HOSTS. Natural History Museum, London. doi:10.5519/havt50xw. Retrieved 21 March 2023.