Identification of Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

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22.08.2006 15:27, Pavel Morozov

Thank you all for not cursing my "symbolic" drawing, but that no one can identify a butterfly like that?

So Vm already wrote that this is a representative of the genus Smerinthus. There are 2 species of them in the middle zone - Smerinthus ocellatus (ocular hawk moth) and Smerinthus caecus (blind hawk moth). The fact of the matter is that your drawing shows only belonging to the genus. Despite the similarities, the two species are quite distinct. The most reliable sign is the shape of eye spots on the hind wings. The ocular hawk moth has a blue "ring" in this spot, and the blind hawk moth has two blue "arches" instead of a "ring" that do not connect with each other.

Of course, most likely, you met an ocular hawk moth, since it is more common. Blind is more widely distributed to the east, in Siberia and the Far East. It is rare in Europe. However, given the discovery of a butterfly on the border of the Yaroslavl and Ivanovo regions, we can also assume a blind hawk moth.

22.08.2006 15:54, A-net-a

So Vm already wrote that this is a representative of the genus Smerinthus. There are 2 species of them in the middle zone - Smerinthus ocellatus (ocular hawk moth) and Smerinthus caecus (blind hawk moth). The fact of the matter is that your drawing shows only belonging to the genus.

Thank you for the link, of course, I went, it was very interesting to see such interesting butterflies in general. BUT the fact of the matter is that this butterfly is completely different from the hawk moth -
firstly, I did not confuse anything with the wings, pink with a blue spot were exactly the upper ones, I repeat, they are also located 2-3 mm above the plane of the lower wings.
Secondly, a completely different head and antennae.

Likes: 1

23.08.2006 9:37, Vlad Proklov

Guilty, by the look of Hypena, but not crassalis? and not obsalis, and not obsitalis like. I found only three species of this genus in the Crimea from Efetov: H. rostralis, H. proboscidalis, and H. palpalis.
Give me a link to Hypena palpalis. Have you seen her image on the web at all?
What does Kotbegemot have to say about this?

H. palpalis is depicted in the Spool atlas (I don't know if that site is working now). This is not her, which I wrote to Vladimir by mail.

And literally just now I thought to look in the book " Fauna of Ukraine: Scoops of the quadrifinoid complex "(it is in Ukrainian) and found there a description of Hypena opulenta (it is given there as Dichromia opulenta). And the description fits, including the yellow rear fenders mentioned.

This post was edited by kotbegemot - 08/23/2006 09: 51

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24.08.2006 13:56, A-net-a

Fear has big eyes.
Since there is no consensus about the "hawk moth/non-hawk moth" of large size, I have a suggestion: I'm sorry, but without a picture - it's even difficult to assume.

Yes, I understand, you will also excuse me, I just thought that maybe there are some determinants, classifiers-like how people here talk about how many parts the foot is split into, what kind of bristle on the abdomen. So I decided that there are a lot of signs to determine at least approximately, because not so many large butterflies are found here. And everyone was fixated on a blue spot on a pink background, thinking that I had mixed up the wings. But I looked at it for 5 minutes, the animal was sitting, it wasn't digging, it wasn't running after a viper

Okay, I'm not bothering you anymore, please advise me, maybe there are some atlases or reference books in paper form.

24.08.2006 15:39, Helene

uh - uh - uh, of course, I am infinitely far from entomology, but please explain, the front wings are those that are closer to the head? Because I didn't mix anything up, and the color was exactly like that, and the asymmetry is strong, and by the way, the pink wings are also located 2-3 millimeters above the plane of the brown ones. What I didn't manage to depict was that the head is positioned on the side of the abdomen almost opposite to the spot on the back.

A-net-a, I understand what's wrong with your butterfly. It's a matter of" profane " perception. This is simply the ocular hawk moth, Smerinthus ocellatus.
user posted image

It shows its hind wings well if disturbed (it scares you with its "eyes"), but usually it sits like this:
user posted image

As you can see in the full-face photo, the edges of the rear fenders protrude "ahead" of the front ones. Why did your butterfly have all its hind wings on top? Maybe it seemed so because of the angle of view (the butterfly is so "raskoryachivaetsya" that for the layman it looks generally strange and surprising). Maybe (most likely) it was with a large pupal defect - the front wings were wrinkled, and the rear ones were unfolded. In general, a strange creature caught your eye, and "from memory" you simply swapped the front and rear wings in your profanity.

In general, summary: ocular hawk moth. In general, the usual butterfly in your places - if you continue to be interested and look closely, you will see more!

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