Hemeroplanes diffusa
Updated as per AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SPHINGIDAE OF BOLIVIA, December 2009

Hemeroplanes diffusa
heh-mer-oh-PLAY-neesmm dif-FEW-suh
(Rothschild & Jordan, 1903) Leucorhampha

Hemeroplanes diffusa courtesy of Hubert Mayer copyright.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Family: Sphingidae Latreille, 1802
Subfamily: Macroglossinae Harris, 1839
Tribe: Dilophonotini Burmeister, 1878
Genus: Hemeroplanes Hubner, [1819] ...........
Species: diffusa (Rothschild & Jordan, 1903)

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DISTRIBUTION:

Hemeroplanes diffusa (wingspan: mm) flies in
Colombia (specimen type locality);
Ecuador;
probably Peru; and
Bolivia: La Paz (1100m).

I believe the genus name comes from the Greek "Hemero" = everyday life and "planes" = rhealm.

In Hemeroplanes diffusa the yellow bands of the abdomen upperside extend across the entire width of the segments. The fringes of the tergites are also yellow.

The underside of the body is a paler orange than in Hemeroplanes triptolemus.

The forewing upperside has bluish-white shading in the basal and postmedian areas, and the silver mark is 4-5 mm long, not forked basally. The posterior branch is obsolete.

The hindwing upperside has bluish white shading in the marginal area, and the basal area is also bluish-white.

The hindwing underside is more orange than in Hemeroplanes triptolemus, and the postmedian area is rust-brown along the greyish-brown border. CATE

Of the four Hemeroplanes species, H. diffusa is the only one that does not have the silver streak basally forked; Hemeroplanes longistriga is the only one with elongated extensions of the silver streak; Hemeroplanes ornatus has upper yellow abodminal bands that are retricted (but clearly visible) and do not cross the entire abdomen, while those same upper yellow bands extend dorsally across entire segments in triptolemus.

FLIGHT TIMES:

There are probably at least two generations annually with peak flights in January-February and again in June-July.

ECLOSION:

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen.

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