Updated as per personal communication with Eurides Furtado
Updated as per More, Kitching and Cocucci's Hawkmoths of Argentina 2005, December 2009
Updated as per AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SPHINGIDAE OF BOLIVIA, December 2009
Updated as per CATE (Colombia, Ecuador, northern and eastern Brazil); February 6, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Leonardo Aguado (Misiones, Argentina, March 27, 2008): October 13, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Ezequiel Bustos (Shilap revta. lepid. 43 (172) diciembre, 2015, 615-631 eISSN 2340-4078 ISSN 0300-5267), January 4, 2016

Isognathus leachii
(Swainson, 1823)

Isognathus leachii Pair: male: 85 mm; female 94: mm,
Reserva Vale da Solidão, 14o22’S 56o07’W, 450 m, Diamantino, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
courtesy of Eurides Furtado.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802
Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839
Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878
Genus: Isognathus G. Felder & R. Felder, 1862 ...........
Species: leachii Swainson, 1823

DISTRIBUTION:

Isognathus leachii (Wing span: males: 85mm; females: 94mm), flies in
southern Panama: Darien (based on larval images), and in
Colombia;
Venezuela;
French Guiana: Coralie, Kaw;
Brazil: Para, Mato Grosso;
Ecuador;
Bolivia: Pando, La Paz, Santa Cruz (750m; April, August) and
Argentina: Misiones (158m; September, November); with Brazil given as the specimen type locality.

I suspect it also flies in Guyana and Suriname, but have no confirmed reports.

FLIGHT TIMES:

There are probably several flights throughout the year. Leonardo Aguado reports a late March flight in Misiones, Argentina.

Isognathus leachii, Depto Cainguas, Aristobulo del Valle, A Cuna Piru, Misiones, Argentina,
March 27, 2008, courtesy of Leonardo Aguado.

"Bands on upperside of abdomen indistinct.

"Forewing upperside with basal elongate patch about 2.5 mm broad; crossvein m2-m3 pale, distinctly separating a small dark brown patch in the discal cell from an elliptical spot distal to m2-m3; black streak between M3 and CuA1 heavy, more or less connected with the curved patch below CuA2; greyish-white scaling sparse, no distinct interrupted grey vein-streaks posteriorly.

"Inner edge of dark brown marginal band of hindwing upperside distinctly and almost regularly dentate, not constant in width." CATE

ECLOSION:

Moths emerge from pupae in thin-walled cocoons under leaf litter within 8-24 days of pupation.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen. Adults nectar at flowers, including petunia.

Isognathus leachii, Mogue, Darien, Panama, August 25, 2007,
courtesy of Dr. Arthur Anker, STRI.

Isognathus leachii, Rancho Frio, Darien, Panama,
January 2016, courtesy of Ana Cecilia Zamora via Albert Thurman.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Females probably lay eggs on leaves of Apocynacea. Allamanda cathartica and Allamanda blancheti have been reported as hosts.

Larvae have long tails; colouration suggests they are unpalatable to birds.

Fourth and fifth instars, southern Venezuela, courtesy of Maurizio G. Paoletti,
confirmed by Jean Haxaire.

Jean wrote, "This larva was for sure on an Apocynaceae, probably a Plumiera sp. The leaves looks like such a plant."

The pupae are also quite colourful, and, I suspect, are very lively. Moths generaly emerge witin 8-24 days of pupation.

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