Marumba sperchius

Marumba sperchius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Marumba
Species:	M. sperchius
Binomial name
Marumba sperchius (Menetries, 1857)[1]
Synonyms
Smerinthus sperchius Ménétriés, 1857 Triptogon albicans Butler, 1875 Triptogon gigas Butler, 1875 Triptogon piceipennis Butler, 1877 Marumba scotti Rothschild, 1920 Smerinthus michaelis Oberthür, 1886 Marumba sperchius castanea O. Bang-Haas, 1938 Marumba sperchius coreanus O. Bang-Haas, 1938 Marumba sperchius handelii Mell, 1922 Marumba sperchius horiana Clark, 1937 Marumba sperchius koreaesperchius Bryk, 1946 Marumba sperchius obsoleta O. Bang-Haas, 1938 Marumba sperchius ochraceus O. Bang-Haas, 1927 Marumba sperchius ussuriensis O. Bang-Haas, 1927

Marumba sperchius is a species of moth of the Sphingidae family. It is found from north-western India across north-eastern India, south-western, central and eastern China to the southern Russian Far East, North Korea, South Korea and Japan.^[2] It is also present on Sumatra and Borneo.

The wingspan is 88–138 mm. It is similar to Marumba juvencus, but the lines of the forewing and the ground colour of the hindwing are more reddish and the lines on either side of the weak discal spot are hardly converge.

There are two generations per year with adults on wing in April and again in August in northern China. In Korea, adults are on wing from late May to late August.

The larvae have been recorded feeding on Castanea (including Castanea crenata), Castanopsis, Quercus (including Quercus glauca, Quercus mongolica, Quercus acutissima, Quercus myrsinaefolia, Quercus acuta, Quercus salicina, Quercus serrata and Castanea crenata), Juglans (including Juglans regia and Juglans mandschurica), Lithocarpus (including Lithocarpus edulis) and Eriobotrya species. Early instars are pale yellow, while later instars turn bluish green with the tubercles brown or reddish, tipped with white. Oblique stripes are formed of mauve or yellow tubercles on a white ground. The horn is green with paler tubercles.^[3]

Subspecies

• Marumba sperchius sperchius (from north-western India across north-eastern India, south-western, central and eastern China to the southern Russian Far East, North Korea, South Korea and Japan)
• Marumba sperchius sumatranus Clark, 1923 (Sumatra, Borneo)

References

1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
2. Pittaway AR; Kitching I. "Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic". Tpittaway.tripod.com. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
3. "The Moths of Borneo". Arbec.com.my. Retrieved 2011-11-01.