Manduca sesquiplex opima male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
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TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Sphinginae, Latreille, [1802] Tribe: Sphingini, Latreille, 1802 Genus: Manduca Hubner, 1807 ........... Species: sesquiplex opima Rothschild & Jordan, 1916

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DISTRIBUTION:

Manduca sesquiplex opima (Wing span: (119 - 120 mm)), flies in
Costa Rica, the specimen type locality: Carthage, Puntarenas; and in
Nicaragua: Jinotega, Matagalpa, Zelaya.

FLIGHT TIMES:

In Costa Rica there is probably only one generation annually with moths on the wing in from September until November. In Nicaragua there appears to be at least three flights, May, July, September.

ECLOSION:

Pupae probably wiggle to surface from subterranean chambers just prior to eclosion.

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.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae probably feed on plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae).

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