View source for Biology:Cephonodes hylas

{{Short description|Species of moth}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Cephonodes hylas 2011-11-06.jpg
| genus = Cephonodes
| species = hylas
| authority = ([[Biography:Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [1771])
| synonyms = * ''Sphinx hylas'' <small>Linnaeus, [1771]</small>
}}

'''''Cephonodes hylas''''', the '''coffee bee hawkmoth''', '''pellucid hawk moth''' or '''coffee clearwing''', is a [[Biology:Moth|moth]] of the family [[Biology:Sphingidae|Sphingidae]]. The species was first described by [[Biography:Carl Linnaeus|Carl Linnaeus]] in 1771. A widely distributed moth, it is found in the [[Place:Near East|Near East]], [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]], Africa, {{wipe|India}}, Sri Lanka, {{wipe|Japan}}, [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] and {{wipe|Australia}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://sphingidae.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/666 | title=''Cephonodes hylas'' (Linnaeus, 1771) | website=Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory | accessdate=8 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.africanmoths.com/pages/SPHINGIIDAE/MACROGLOSSIDAE/cephonodes%20hylas.htm | title=''Cephonodes hylas'' | website=African Moths | accessdate=8 July 2016}}</ref>

==Description==
It has transparent wings and a stout body like a bumble bee.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Coffee-Hawk-Moth/Cephonodes/hylas.html | title=Coffee Hawk Moth (''Cephonodes hylas'') | website=OzAnimals Australian Wildlife | accessdate=8 July 2016}}</ref> Its [[Wingspan|wingspan]] of 45–73&nbsp; mm. Its marginal borders are very narrow and black. The abdomen varies in colour from yellow to green. Nominate subspecies has bright reddish 3rd and 4th abdominal segments. Larva has two colour forms, green and blackish. In greenish form, the body is greenish with a white-bordered blue dorsal line and a whitish sub-dorsal line ending in a yellow streak at the base of the horn. The head and spiracles are blue.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hampson |first=G. F. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/180068#page/5/mode/1up |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I |publisher=Taylor and Francis |year=1892 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}
</ref> In the dark-coloured form, the head is brown or pale orange and the rest of the body is smoky black. Pupa dark brown.

[[File:Pellucid hawk moth , feeding on Lantana camara flowers.jpg|alt=Colourful-hawk-moth|thumb|Pellucid hawk moth with clear wings, hovering and sucking nectar from flowers using proboscis, Hyderabad, India.]]
<gallery mode=packed>
Cephonodes hylas hyles MHNT CUT 2010 0 138 Pokhara Nepal male dorsal.jpg|Dorsal male<br/>(from the collection of the MHNT)
Cephonodes hylas hyles MHNT CUT 2010 0 138 Pokhara Nepal male ventral.jpg|Ventral male<br/>(coll. MHNT)
Cephonodes hylas hyles MHNT CUT 2010 0 138 Mae Tha Lamphun Thailand female dorsal.jpg|Dorsal female<br/>(coll. MHNT)
Cephonodes hylas hyles MHNT CUT 2010 0 138 Mae Tha Lamphun Thailand female ventral.jpg|Ventral female<br/>(coll. MHNT)
</gallery>

==Ecology==
Larvae are sluggish but eat very greedily and continuously. Its larvae feed on ''[[Biology:Burchellia|Burchellia]]'', ''[[Biology:Gardenia|Gardenia]]'', ''[[Biology:Kraussia|Kraussia]]'', ''[[Biology:Pavetta|Pavetta]]'' and ''[[Biology:Vangueria|Vangueria]]'' species. [[Biology:Parasitoid|Parasitoid]]s such as ''Ooencyrtus papilionis'' and ''Blepharipa zebrine'' are found on larva.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pittaway |first1=A. R. |last2=Kitching |first2=I. J. |date=2018 |url=http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/c_hyl.htm |title=''Cephonodes hylas hylas'' (Linnaeus, 1771) -- Coffee clearwing; Coffee bee hawkmoth |website=Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic |accessdate=December 14, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Herbison-Evans |first1=Don |last2=Crossley |first2=Stella |name-list-style=amp |date=15 February 2015 |url=http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/sphi/hylas.html |title=''Cephonodes hylas'' (Linnaeus, 1771) Coffee Hawk Moth |website=Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths |accessdate=18 November 2018}}</ref>

==Subspecies==
*''Cephonodes hylas hylas'' - <small>(Linnaeus 1771)</small> (Sri Lanka to China and Japan)
*''Cephonodes hylas australis'' - <small>Kitching & Cadiou, 2000</small> (Australia)
*''Cephonodes hylas melanogaster'' - <small>Cadiou, 1998</small> (Indonesia)
*''Cephonodes hylas virescens'' - <small>(Wallengren, 1865)</small> (Ethiopian Region including Madagascar and the Seychelles)

<gallery>
File:Cephonodes hylas (Bee hawkmoth) on Catunaregam spinosa W IMG 9507.jpg|''Cephonodes hylas'' larvae on ''[[Biology:Catunaregam spinosa|Catunaregam spinosa]]'' in [[Place:Hyderabad|Hyderabad]], India
File:Cephonodes hylas (Bee hawkmoth) on Catunaregam spinosa W IMG 9509.jpg|''Cephonodes hylas'' larvae on ''Catunaregam spinosa'' in Hyderabad
File:Cephonodes hylas (Bee hawkmoth) on Catunaregam spinosa W IMG 9506.jpg|''Cephonodes hylas'' larvae on ''Catunaregam spinosa'' in Hyderabad
File:Cephonodes hylas (Bee hawkmoth) on Catunaregam spinosa W IMG 9469.jpg|''Cephonodes hylas'' larvae on ''Catunaregam spinosa'' in Hyderabad
File:Pellucid hawk moth.JPG|Pellucid hawk moth in Bangalore, India
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}


{{Taxonbar |from=Q1937238}}

[[Category:Cephonodes]]



{{Sourceattribution|Cephonodes hylas}}