Marumba dyras

Dull swirled hawkmoth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Marumba
Species:	M. dyras
Binomial name
Marumba dyras (Walker, 1856)[1]
Synonyms
Smerinthus dryas Walker, 1856 Marumba dryas Boisduval, 1875 Triptogon andamana Moore, 1877 Triptogon ceylanica Butler, 1875 Triptogon fuscescens Butler, 1875 Triptogon massuriensis Butler, 1875 Triptogon oriens Butler, 1875 Triptogon silhetensis Butler, 1875 Triptogon sinensis Butler, 1875 Smerinthus horsfieldi Moore, 1858 Smerinthus parallelis Moore, 1858 Marumba dyras ceylonica Kernbach, 1960 Marumba dyras handeliioides Mell, 1937 Marumba dyras plana Clark, 1923 Marumba dyras tonkinensis Clark, 1936 Marumba dyras digitata Dupont, 1941 Marumba dyras disjuncta Dupont, 1941 Marumba dyras sumatrana Gehlen, 1940 Triptogon dyras javanica Butler, 1875

Marumba dyras (dull swirled hawkmoth) is a species of hawk moth. It is found in south-east Asia and South Asia.^[2]

Description

The wingspan is 90–125 mm. Body is pale brown in color. There is a dark line running from head to end of abdomen. Fore wing is with a sub-basal line, three antemedial lines converging towards inner margin, two oblique slightly bent post-medial lines, the outer line is obsolescent. There is another post-medial line, curved from the costa to vein 2, then recurved upwards and inwards and enclosing a red brown spot surrounded by an indistinct line. The two curved sub-marginal lines can be seen.^[3]

Hind wings are reddish brown in color with two red-brown spots on it. Ventral surface of fore wings with only lines on the outer half present. Ventral surface of hind wing with two post-medial straight lines and two sub-marginal curved lines.

Caterpillar is blue-green in color with short white granular spines. There are lateral oblique streaks on 5th to 10th somites. A black-ringed white ocellus can be found on 4th somite. Horn is yellow. Pupa is dark red-brown in color. Spiracles and cremaster are black.

Host plants

The larvae feed on various deciduous trees. They can be found in Byttneria aspera, Firmiana simplex, Microcos paniculata, Pterospermum heterophyllum, Sterculia lanceolata, Hibiscus mutabilis, Microcos paniculata. In India, M. d. dyras has been recorded on Bridelia, Sapindus and Schleichera. In Laos and Thailand, caterpillars recorded from Bombax anceps, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and Microcos paniculata plants.

From the Western Ghats

Subspecies

• Marumba dyras dyras (from northwestern India and Sri Lanka, east through Nepal, Myanmar, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, southern China, Thailand, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia and Taiwan)
• Marumba dyras javanica (Butler, 1875) (Java, Sumatra)
• Marumba dyras tenimberi Clark, 1935 (Tenimber Island)

References

1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
2. Pittaway, A.R. & Kitching, I.J. "Dull swirled hawkmoth". Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic species list. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
3. Hampson G. F. (1892). "The Fauna Of British India Including Ceylon And Burma Moths Vol-i". Digital Library of India. p. 558. Retrieved 4 July 2016.