Hippotion celerio (Silver striped hawkmoth)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa > Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Phylum: Arthopoda > Mandibulata > Atelocerata > Panhexapoda > Hexapoda > Insecta (insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota > Metapterygota > Neoptera > Eumetabola > Holometabola > Panorpida > Amphiesmenoptera > Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) > Glossata > Coelolepida > Myoglossata > Neolepidoptera > Heteroneura > Ditrysia > Apoditrysia > Obtectomera > Macrolepidoptera > Bombycoidea > Family: Sphingidae (hawkmoths) > Subfamily: Macroglossinae > Genus: Hippotion

Hippotion celerio male [photo J. Joannou ©]

Ecological interactions

Larval host plants in southern Africa

Information from Kroon (1999) unless otherwise indicated.

• Araceae
  • Zantedeschia aethiopica (Arum Lily)
• Balsaminaceae
  • Impatiens spp. The host-plant records for this species are for garden ornamentals but there are 4 indigenous species in southern Africa.
• Fabaceae
  • Acacia caffra
  • Acacia karroo
• Vitaceae
  • Ampelopsis sp. A garden ornamental, originating from Asia or North America.
  • Cyphostemma cirrhosum
  • Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper). A garden ornamental, originating from North America.
  • Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Boston Creeper). A garden ornamental.
  • Rhoicissus tomentosa
  • Rhoicissus tridentata
  • Vitis vinifera (Grapevine). A cultivated species, originating from the orient and northwest India.

Pollination

Adults feed from a wide variety of long-tubed flowers including:

• Caricaceae

  • Carica papaya (Papaya, Papaw, Pawpaw). A cultivated species, pollinated by hawkmoths, including Agrius convolvuli. Martins & Johnson (2009) in a study conducted in rural Kenya, found that natural habitats were important in sustaining hawkmoth populations because they contained the larval hostplants needed in completing the life cycle. Hence, papaya plants grown near natural habitats were more likely to be pollinated than those isolated from natural habitats.

Links

• species account with images on Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic web site.

Publications (by date)

• Kroon, D.M. 1999. Lepidoptera of Southern Africa - Host-plants and other Associations. A Catalogue. Published by the author and Lepidopterists' Society of Africa, P.O. Box 477, Jukskei Park 2153, South Africa. 
• Martins DJ, Johnson SD. 2009. Distance and quality of natural habitat influence hawkmoth pollination of cultivated papaya. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 29: 114-123.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1742758409990208

Text by Hamish Robertson