Sphingidae Hawkmoths

For rhopalocera.com Are you the most important person here? I'm not going to answer you any more. Write to me or don't write, I don't need anything from you.

For rhopalocera.com Are you the most important person here? I'm not going to answer you any more. Write to me or don't write, I don't need anything from you.

me too. but for the future: there is such a thing as intellectual property. if you are already pulling pictures from someone, then put a link to the source. it's the right thing to do.

welcome to reality

There are a lot of photos on the Internet without specifying the author. I attached A. R. Pittaway and my own.
I won't write to you again. Everything, basta!!!

And off we go....
Enough already. I also don't understand why you should put up reproductions of Pittaway here, you can just give it a link, but I'm tired of reading your squabbles.
I propose to return to the original semantic load of the forum. I hang 4 types of Marumbas from Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand and Vietnam. All 4 can sometimes occur syntopically, which makes it difficult to identify them. The two upper species differ well in the relative position of the subtornal spot of the forewings and the submarginal (external) ligation.

Pictures:

marumba.jpg — (180.28к)

And just a gorgeous view - Rhodoprasina callantha. This one is Chiang Mai, Thailand.
When soaking, the green color often turns brown.
If Dr Todd has already posted it before, well, sorry. I hope that repetition will not be penalized in this case.

Pictures:

callantha.jpg — (171.62к)

No, chet-ta today is just a romantic mood ))) I decided to throw a couple more photos. I understand that not in the topic of the forum a little, but maybe someone has grown such a creation Is Akosmerix some, Vietnam, Sapa, May. Does anyone know?
Sorry, I don't need a list of Sapa acosmerixes.

Pictures:

acosm.jpg — (181.63к)

And custom-made. Do they accept takeout orders here?
Who is confident in their knowledge, write to the forum, pliz, how to clearly distinguish 4 local species of klanis from each other, without cooking genitals. I mean:
Clanis titan
Clanis schwartzi
and
Clanis undulosa
Clanis bilineata
I understand that they are divided into pairs - as it is written here. But with further differences, so far mostly working hypotheses, little supported by checks. Any ideas welcome.

This post was edited by dim-va-28.07.2012 22: 04

I suggest brazhnikov from the Moscow region. Just tracks. The species are very famous. But there is something interesting. I photographed it myself. Not good quality everywhere, I apologize.
1) Mimas tiliae; 2) Mimas tiliae; 3) Choerocampa porcellus 4) Deilephila elpenor, 5) Hyles euphorbiae (pink heat form), 6) Hyles gallii (fourth instar) 7) Hyles gallii 8) Hyles gallii, 9) Hyles gallii (dark ecological form; found mainly on bedstraw). tiliae--G. Serpukhov; porcellus-south-west of Serpukhov; elpenor-g. Serpukhov; euphorbiae-near the village of Nikiforovo (Serpentine district); gallii-2nd south-west. Serpukhov; the rest are in the village of Nikiforovo. [attachm
entid()=149261][attachmentid()=
149265]

Pictures:

_____Hyles__euphorbiae_L.___________forma_L5.jpg — (144.49к)


_________Hyles__gallii_____________.______________________.jpg — (268.89к)

Me again. The downloads didn't turn out by numbers. porcellus--south-west. Serpukhov; tiliae-G. Serpukhov; elpenor-Moscow Serpukhov; gallii (L4)--southwest Serpukhov and green gallii; euphorbiae (pink) and other gallii--Nikiforovo village area (Serpukhov district)

Dear Forumchane.
I have a very sore question like this. In the Moscow region, has anyone encountered Sphinx ligustri caterpillars or caught an imago in the light? I have been collecting caterpillars since 1978, but not a single gus.-s of the lilac hawk moth.... I live in Serpukhov (Moscow region, in the very south of the Moscow region). Every year I collect and look for lilac. All forage plants without nibbles. My colleague from Moscow also did not see this species anywhere. And they caught the light, without results. When Yu. A. Derzhavets (from St. Petersburg) was alive, he also received letters from the Moscow region on the same topic.
My Moscow colleague has the only data on this type, and what is interesting: Moscow, ex l. And no more. Given by oral communication.
It would be very interesting to know!

   Dear Forumchane.
I have a very sore question like this. In the Moscow region, has anyone encountered Sphinx ligustri caterpillars or caught an imago in the light? I have been collecting caterpillars since 1978, but not a single gus.-s of the lilac hawk moth.... I live in Serpukhov (Moscow region, in the very south of the Moscow region). Every year I collect and look for lilac. All forage plants without nibbles. My colleague from Moscow also did not see this species anywhere. And they caught the light, without results. When Yu. A. Derzhavets (from St. Petersburg) was alive, he also received letters from the Moscow region on the same topic.
My Moscow colleague has the only data on this type, and what is interesting: Moscow, ex l. And no more. Given by oral communication.
It would be very interesting to know!

There was a case.
Moscow, Bolshaya Pirogovskaya Street, second half of July 2001-caterpillar on lilac. It was found by excrement on the asphalt, sat high (lilac on Pirogovka powerful).

Basically, there is material from imagos from the Kaluga region, Obninsk district, d. Algasovo

There was a case.
Moscow, Bolshaya Pirogovskaya Street, second half of July 2001-caterpillar on lilac. It was found by excrement on the asphalt, sat high (lilac on Pirogovka powerful).

Basically, there is material from imagos from the Kaluga region, Obninsk district, and the village of Algasovo

Thank you very much. Still there is..... We need to search. Perhaps the view is local. And again from Moscow. It is not marked in the PTZ. Probably closer to Moscow, but in general throughout the entire territory of the Moscow region. little search was made for him. If there are any findings, they are not published or reported. Probably so.

I can say a few words about finding gus. lilac hawk moth in the Leningrad region:
gus. caught me in the amount of 5 pieces in 15 years: -) with a very diligent annual search. This is Beloostrov station on Karelian settlement: 2 pieces-privet, 1 piece-lilac, 2 pieces-ash.
If I were looking now, it would be in Moscow on Yasen. We had a year in Leningrad when you could find 10-30 geese in a day without any problems, and 90% of them were on the ash tree. I want to note that in the area they were not at the same time.

I can say a few words about finding gus. lilac hawk moth in the Leningrad region:
gus. caught me in the amount of 5 pieces in 15 years: -) with a very diligent annual search. This is Beloostrov station on Karelian settlement: 2 pieces-privet, 1 piece-lilac, 2 pieces-ash.
If I were looking now, it would be in Moscow on Yasen. We had a year in Leningrad when you could find 10-30 geese in a day without any problems, and 90% of them were on the ash tree. I want to note that in the region they were not at the same time.

Thank you so much about Sphinx ligustri! This is not new to me. I also had a colleague from Leningrad, then St. Petersburg. He knew that lilac in the Moscow region is either not at all, or it is extremely rare. Yu. A. Derzhavets promised to help me with ligustri caterpillars, but unfortunately he died, and he was an extremely wonderful sphingidologist, and in general as a person. I wrote him letters, answered them at first, and then no answers came. Thank you for looking better on ash. We will try our best!

We had a" mass swim " of caterpillars in Leningrad in the summer of 1982. In May 1983, I released dozens of butterflies to the park near the Youth Theater (Theater of Young Spectators) in the city center. In the next 2 years, gus. still came across, and later the situation "stabilized", i.e. the view disappeared again :-).
And I'm sorry for Yuri Adolfovich, I was just unlucky - I ended up in the hospital with a diagnosis, the treatment of which led to an exacerbation of asthma, with which ... .... they didn't make it. In general, everything is as usual ... unfortunately.

This year I have produced a lot of lilac hawkmoth in Korolev, including fertilized females. In Moscow, it is almost impossible to find it and, most likely, it is not here at the moment, although they say that it used to be common. Males have never visited pheromonous females in the Moscow region. Sometimes (but very rarely) they come across in the Tula region. Further south, more often. There are still quite a lot of them in the western regions, in Smolensk, for example.

Manduca sexta eats (sugar syrup in a jar).

There are a lot of photos on the Internet without specifying the author. I attached A. R. Pittaway and my own.
I won't write to you again. Everything, basta!!!

OFF / Squabbles are certainly not interesting to read. However, I also did some garbage - I accidentally clicked the "spam" button on the above message and, unfortunately, I don't know how to remove the mark. My sincere apologies.

Flying south is not nonsense. Bindweed specimens that are caught in the MO in October are the second generation that has emerged here, flying south. Just in our band, it is late hatched, late and starts on the way to the parent land (but, of course, between the departures of individuals, a spread in terms of time is inevitable). It is possible that some emigrants are sometimes unlucky with atmospheric heat (for example, suddenly an early snowfall fell at the distillery, as in the example above), and they - as a result-do not have enough strength (at least until at least a short return of heat) to continue the journey. But the norm is to fly south in the fall. This can probably be considered quite sufficiently covered in the literature. But wintering in our conditions, for example, the imago of the loach hawk moth (not to mention the oleander moth) in the foreseeable future can hardly be expected - as well as the development of eggs laid by individuals of obviously southern species literally under the snow in our zone... In our country, super-millennial generations of their own species will die for the most part without offspring, causing then shoals in the dynamics of population numbers...

Andrey Jovovich, where does this information come from?

Hawks fly from the breeding site, with a high number, to 360 degrees, and of course, in the spring, some fly to the north, and in the fall, some fly to the south.

Hawks fly from the breeding site, with a high number, to 360 degrees, and of course, in the spring, some fly to the north, and in the fall, some fly to the south.

I received from A. J. Elez an article on the bindweed hawk moth, for which I am very grateful.

Here are all the answers to the questions raised in a few days in the topic "Autumn fishing"


Povidovoy essay by V. I. Kuznetsov from the publication: Insects and ticks . pests of agricultural crops.. Vol. III. Lepidoptera. . Part 2. . Executive editor V. I. Kuznetsov. St. Petersburg: Nauka Publ., 1999.

* Agrius convolvuli L. (Herse convolvuli L., Protoparce convolvuli L.).. Bindweed hawk moth. It is a notable pest of sweet potatoes in their native areas on the Black Sea coast of Russia and Georgia, in Central Asia, southern Europe, the Middle East, Japan, India and Australia. In tropical countries, the caterpillars also harm other species of ipomoea (Ipomoea), found on beans, tobacco, honeysuckle, Vigna (Vigna) and some ornamental flowering crops. To the north. the main food plant of the caterpillars remains the field bindweed (Convolvulus arvense), and the fields littered with this weed serve as a natural reserve for hawk moth. The damage is usually insignificant, but in some years the sweet potato crops were significantly damaged and the leaves were eaten on plots of several hectares (Neustruev, 1933).
Biological data and literature on hawk moth have recently been summarized in a special summary (Reinhardt and Harz, 1989). In the zone of settlement, for example, in Saudi Arabia, up to 4 generations developing from April to November, in Tajikistan . 2.3, in Germany and the Black Sea region . 2 .Pupae that have been exposed to low positive temperatures from 7.5 to 13 ° C during pupation overwinter in the surface layer of the soil, but their frost resistance is low. Therefore, Central European and North. populations are mostly created anew every year as a result of migrants entering from the south.
The first-generation flight to Wed. Europe lasts from the beginning of May to the beginning of July. Butterflies are active in the evenings and at night, males, and sometimes females, are attracted to the light. In the evenings, butterflies feed on nectar, and visit mainly odorous flowers, colored in the colors of the blue-purple part of the spectrum or white. The most attractive are phlox, honeysuckle, bindweed, verbena, petunia, cypress, tobacco, soapweed, etc. The speed reaches 126 km / h on short-distance flights from flower to flower (Mell, 1953), and on long-distance migrations . 80 km / h (Reinhardt and Harz, 1989). Additional nutrition of females is necessary for the maturation of their sexual products and they are ready for copulation in 5.6 days after leaving the pupae. Copulation usually starts after midnight and lasts until morning.
Egg laying has been observed since May, but fertilized females sometimes start laying eggs only a week after copulation, both in the evenings and at night. One female lays an average of about 250 eggs, compared to about 350 when fed with vitamin E (Eichler, 1969), but the potential fecundity is low . up to 700 eggs. In Europe, eggs are laid on the lower surface of leaves and only bindweed or other bindweed plants. Embryo development, depending on the temperature, lasts 3.5 days.
Caterpillars in the settled area are found from April to October, in Europe they develop at the end of May.June is 24.40 days, depending on the temperature, this period is shortened to 13.15 days at 30 .From and extends to 2 months in September.October (2nd generation). They usually stay on the lower surface of the leaves, feeding at night, and eat several leaves a day, sometimes eating part of the stems. Before pupation, the mobility of caterpillars increases dramatically, and they can crawl several hundred meters (Pittaway, 1993).
Pupation occurs in plant remains on the soil surface, summer pupae develop slowly, on average 24.34 days, so that the years of butterflies of the 2nd generation emerging from pupae in Wed. Europe, begins only in August.Long-distance migrations of hawk moth to Europe have been observed since 1693 (Weidner, 1986), and mass flights are repeated more or less regularly, 3.4 times every 10 years (Reinhardt and Harz, 1989). Migrations of this species were considered as a desire to equalize meteorological and sexual needs (Mell, 1953), but it is more correct to consider seasonal adaptations to experiencing an unfavorable climatic period of the year. Most populations of the species annually leave the sedentary zone in late spring and fly north. The number of migrants varies in different years, since one of the prerequisites for its rise is the mass reproduction of hawkmoth in the settlement zone, from where the flight begins. In unfavorable years, migration may not be noticed at all. The signal for the beginning of migration is the impact on the caterpillars of a critical photoperiod that has not yet been fully established, which signals the approach of a hot and dry summer and causes a delay in the development of gonads in females. Departure from Sardinia to the north. It starts as early as April, and in May hundreds of butterflies were found under streetlights on the passes through the Alps on cold nights. Individuals migrate, occasionally forming small flocks (Gloel, 1954).
In years favorable for migration, the area of flight covered the entire territory of Europe on the north. to Iceland, the Orkney Islands and the north. Fennoscandia. At the same time, the population density of hawk moth locally increased, up to 16 caterpillars per m2 were found in places south of the Alps, and dozens of butterflies were caught in Dresden gardens in the 2nd half of September 1982 (Hornemann, 1983).
In the temporary breeding zone, females lay eggs, and here the next generation develops by autumn. Butterflies of this generation in September begin a southward autumn migration, which is induced in the same way as the spring migration. Thus, the annual seasonal migration of hawk moth, called eumigration (Reinhardt and Harz, 1989), is optional, and not all individuals react equally, and in nature migrants mix with native hawk moth individuals. Migrations were also recorded in the South-East. Asia, and autumn migrants appeared there during the transition from the rainy season to the dry one, at the end of September.October (Mell, 1953). . Russia (flights): europe. part to the north-west and the Urals, south of Primorye and the South Kuril Islands (Kunashir). From the Baltic States to Moldova and Ukraine (flights), Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Wed. Asia, Zap. Palearctic (settlement zone: southern Italy, Southern Greece, Cyprus Island, North). Africa, Middle East, Iraq, South Africa Iran), Center., East. and Southern. Asia (to the north) to Tibet and Japan, but the settlement zone is not separated from the temporary breeding zone), Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii.

This post was edited by Aaata - 01.09.2012 06: 33

I received from A. J. Elez an article on the bindweed hawk moth, for which I am very grateful.

Here are all the answers to the questions raised in a few days in the topic "Autumn fishing"
Povidovoy essay by V. I. Kuznetsov from the publication: Insects and ticks . pests of agricultural crops.. Vol. III. Lepidoptera. . Part 2. . Executive editor V. I. Kuznetsov. St. Petersburg: Nauka Publ., 1999.

With all due respect to the late Vladimir Ivanovich, this is all a compilation of available literary data, and often unverified. I wouldn't be surprised if a paraphrased Fabre is quoted somewhere here. I have no doubt about the migratory abilities of the bindweed hawk moth, and many others. I'm not familiar with studies of hawk moth migrations, such as marked - released-collected, but they would have made a significant difference. It is also interesting that suddenly many species began to be considered active migrants, even proserpine, although the radius of its movements, IMHO, is a couple of kilometers, and it has its own "territorial areas", which it flies around every evening for food. It seems to me that we humanize the hawk moth a little, making up stories about them about autumn flights. With a wedge))

With all due respect to the late Vladimir Ivanovich, this is all a compilation of available literary data, and often unverified. I wouldn't be surprised if a paraphrased Fabre is quoted somewhere here. I have no doubt about the migratory abilities of the bindweed hawk moth, and many others. I'm not familiar with studies of hawk moth migrations, such as marked - released-collected, but they would have made a significant difference. It is also interesting that suddenly many species began to be considered active migrants, even proserpine, although the radius of its movements, IMHO, is a couple of kilometers, and it has its own "territorial areas", which it flies around every evening for food. It seems to me that we humanize the hawk moth a little, making up stories about them about autumn flights. With a wedge))

But, so far, we don't have anything else. It's easy to question things, especially things that can't be verified by yourself.. But how were the migration paths and timelines investigated, if not by the marked-released-collected type? They weren't made up in classrooms.

Hawks do not always fly away from breeding sites, and some species are generally very stenotopic, for example, hyles vespertilio or some hemaris.
As for the bindweed, this species definitely makes long-distance and purposeful migrations. In addition, the migratory form has a delay in egg development. Females caught near Moscow in late August-September usually begin laying eggs in 2-3 weeks. (No eggs are found in opened females until this period expires). In addition, the season of this species in early autumn in the middle zone is often very massive and short. It happens that they come across dozens or hundreds of different colors, but completely disappear in 2-3 days. The same thing can sometimes be observed in Africa at the beginning of the dry season - butterflies have a delay in the development of eggs and sharp changes in numbers - no one for a month, and then a hundred pieces arrive at the light in one night, and then again none. And when environmental conditions do not prevent further reproduction, females mate on the first night after emerging from the pupa and begin laying eggs the next night.
Hawks are difficult to observe, but it is likely that this species flies south in the fall. Migrations of this kind are known for a number of butterfly species.

As for the compilation, it is not difficult to check if you want, Kuznetsov refers to a very specific work, and it is unthinkable to have original empirical information on each type mentioned in such an extensive work. The work is then written by one person, so that the other person can use it later. You can take that foreign work and see what was studied and how, and on what basis what conclusion was made, than to guess and assume. Personal authorship here is the tenth thing, it is important how thorough a study of the biology of the species is behind this information. By the way, the data of Fabre or Fabre times does not have to be completely erroneous.

I doubt about proserpina, because the winter temperatures in the middle zone are such that even migrations to the north from the south are not necessary for our species to be autochthonous and stable. And bindweed - specifically a southern view (until the middle band radically warmed up). From the end of August to the first days of September (usually), it flies at night on what is still blooming, and actively jams. Then (the time frame may vary slightly in different years, and the volume of migration varies very noticeably over the years) the hawk moth starts on the road; three instances, for example, were once noted by my friend who flew into the light from the same direction: the butterflies arrived with a small bus interval, practically did not linger at the lamp, and then they flew on in the same straight line. When we then used the map to orient the route, it turned out to be clearly meridional to the south. This is an episode that hawk moth and I did not fly to Arabia, but the episode is consistent with the scheme described. And I do not yet know any facts that contradict it, although I would be interested to learn them from others.

After a very short flight period, the hawk moth disappears completely at a particular latitude of the middle zone, and as far as I remember, no one has noticed them wintering, or deadened from the hammers, or even wings after a bird meal. I'm not even talking about the fact that hopeless pre-winter preimaginals are in our zone (not in warm cages, but in the cooling nature!) either they did not meet, or they met much less than they should have been in terms of the number of September parents; all this indirectly indicates the sufficient respect of this butterfly for the "compilations" of V. I. Kuznetsov and the works of his predecessors and its serious approach to timely return migration to the south.

three instances, for example, were once marked by a friend of mine who flew into the light from the same direction: the butterflies arrived with a small bus interval, practically did not linger at the lamp, and immediately flew in the same straight line further. When we then used the map to orient the route, it turned out to be clearly meridional to the south. This is an episode that hawk moth and I did not fly to Arabia, but the episode is consistent with the scheme described. And I do not yet know any facts that contradict it, although I would be interested to learn them from others.

After a very short flight period, the hawk moth disappears completely at a particular latitude of the middle zone, and as far as I remember, no one has noticed them wintering, or deadened from the hammers, or even wings after a bird meal. I'm not even talking about the fact that hopeless pre-winter preimaginals are in our zone (not in warm cages, but in the cooling nature!) either they did not meet, or they met much less than they should have been in terms of the number of September parents; all this indirectly indicates the sufficient respect of this butterfly for the "compilations" of V. I. Kuznetsov and the works of his predecessors and its serious approach to timely return migration to the south.

Well, don't forget that hopelessly pre - winter preimaginals, if any, prefer not to hatch in order to take the path to the south, but to fall into diapause under the influence of at least 2 factors-shortening the length of daylight and general cooling. Unfortunately, this diapause is fatal for most of the population. And to say that they flew away from the lamp in the same direction, and it was a direct route to the south-not very serious. I have no doubt that the spring-summer-autumn migration to the north (or rather, radially from the breeding grounds) is going on, and that it is rather random than purposeful, but I will refrain from such a purposeful flight to the south. You can, as a fact, try to mark our milkweed or bedstraw (not so much migrants, but still), hatching in August, next year - and suddenly you will be able to collect then someone to the south or north. This may clarify something with a specific example.
As for compilation , you don't need to put it in quotation marks. Nothing offensive. Compilation is just borrowing data from the literature. Here it is 100%.

.. the birds flew south... I doubt it VERY much.

A FEW FACTS

1. In spring and summer on the terr. In the Penza region, we have never been able to catch a bindweed moth. The fact that they exist in nature is absolutely certain! Here are the testimonials:

2. In the Penza region periodically find pupae of loach hawk moth (very typical and it is difficult to confuse us with other species-if only with a dead head... and even then they didn't know... oral apparatus in a very peculiar "cover") in vegetable gardens when digging potatoes (August-September)... caterpillars are nocturnal on the field bindweed and so far we have not come across (not searched).

3. There is an article (you need to search for it - but there is no time yet just came out of vacation and everything piled up right away...) on the Ryazan motley moth, and in particular on the Blinushov and K * hawkmoth, which provides data on the presence (repeatedly) in the summer in the Ryazan region of caterpillars and pupae of the loach hawkmoth and in very decent quantities - I also commented on the situation with this species in Penza, but for some reason the comment was included in the work without reference to me... you might think the authors caught / collected b. loach in software... surprisingly.

4.We have not yet been able to find the caterpillars themselves due to their nocturnal activity in the software... But, something similar is found... What they brought me were gray forms of br. death's head - when weeding potatoes, they just fell to the ground... in the south is not uncommon!?? However, the butterflies themselves brazhn. deadhead in the summer, too, can not catch yet... riddle.

5. Bindweed hawkmoth (butterflies - like the freshest/obviously local and flown/probably migrants) are not rare in our country all over the country, they are noted (fishing for UV light (even on very cold nights! Since the flying hawk moth of this species can raise its body temperature!) and on flowering plants in the evening and at night (constantly!) from mid-August to...

6. The last capture of a live male b. loach was made by my brother in late October-early November (it is necessary to raise the records). The first snow has already fallen! A hawk moth, alive and well, was sitting on a stone fence under the 250 DRL lamp of the Goltsovsky distillery. Probably on the smell probably flew... after all, hawk moth.

7. The butterfly of this species will hardly be able to overwinter in our latitude (in experiments dead). But br. yazykan I was told exactly can winter with us... (I have not yet found) at least we caught cockroaches in May and June (but how can we prove that these are local specimens?). You need to mark - and mark in different places. Convolvulus strong appearance-the wings are large, it is quite possible to come up with something.

In general, you need to collect information and bring it together-at least in the Middle zone of the Russian Federation.

This post was edited by Penzyak - 03.09.2012 14: 47

Well, don't forget that hopelessly pre - winter preimaginals, if any, prefer not to hatch in order to take the path to the south, but to fall into diapause under the influence of at least 2 factors-shortening the length of daylight and general cooling. Unfortunately, this diapause is fatal for most of the population.

I didn't mean pupae (direct descendants of immigrants) from which you can hatch and take the path to the south. The report of T. Penzyak, among other things, indicates that some pupae are found when autumn imagos are already flying in the Moscow region, i.e. butterflies may not have time to leave or leave very late (like the autumn imago mentioned by him). I was referring to the fact that the autumn generation itself in our zone almost does not lay eggs in nature (most likely leaving this matter to another area, warmer), so preimaginal NEXT generation is unlikely (otherwise the caterpillars could be found in September-November). and the pupae in August and September (see the message by T. Penzyak) are still children of the first (immigrant) generation. The fact that the direction of flight of autumn specimens, no longer prowling in search of food and not seriously responding to light, is only an episode, I recognized this, but I have not known a reverse episode for many years, and I perceive this as a unique luck of my colleague, as a meeting with a butterfly that is definitely on the way. The fact that Murzin in a well-known book recalls the flights of thistles is also an episode, but also characteristic, and navigation is well established even in birds, which in this regard science has studied better than insects. By the way, I myself observed the migration of thistles in 1988 on a small mountain Kalkar (I think) at the very bottom of the Ala-Archa Gorge on the Kyrgyz Ridge, near the village of Kashka-Su.

The book to which, among other works, Kuznetsov refers (Reinhardt, Rolf; Harz, Kurt. Wandernde Schwärmerarten: Totenkopf- Winden- Oleander- u. Linienschwärmer. - Wittenberg (Lutherstadt): Ziemsen, 1989 .- 112 S., [1] Bl. Ill. - (Die neue Brehm-Bucherei)) is available in Leninka, and its second edition, which, I think, was published in 1996, I can't find anywhere, it is not listed even in the Library of Congress of the United States. But if any of my colleagues who know German will be able to understand at least the first edition, I would be very grateful for information about what methods the authors (or those on whose information they rely) used to clarify the question of the timing and directions of migrations of the bindweed hawk moth (and possibly at the same time the other three). which the book is about - i.e. death's head, oleander, and ruler). Perhaps the German paper will finally provide answers that will convince everyone. Until then, we will have to rely on Kuznetsov, because he probably saw the book in his eyes, from which he drew information, and might have thought about how to be careful of methodically weak data. I do not yet have any information that allows me to question his version.

This post was edited by A. J. Elez-03.09.2012 20: 24

Well, don't forget that hopelessly pre - winter preimaginals, if any, prefer not to hatch in order to take the path to the south, but to fall into diapause under the influence of at least 2 factors-shortening the length of daylight and general cooling. Unfortunately, this diapause is fatal for most of the population. And to say that they flew away from the lamp in the same direction, and it was a direct route to the south-not very serious. I have no doubt that the spring-summer-autumn migration to the north (or rather, radially from the breeding grounds) is going on, and that it is rather random than purposeful, but I will refrain from such a purposeful flight to the south. You can, as a fact, try to mark our milkweed or bedstraw (not so much migrants, but still), hatching in August, next year - and suddenly you will be able to collect then someone to the south or north. This may clarify something with a specific example.
As for compilation , you don't need to put it in quotation marks. Nothing offensive. Compilation is just borrowing data from the literature. Here it is 100%.

From personal experience, I can say that the pupae of the loach hawk moth found in the middle zone in August give butterflies in September and never fall into diapause, even if it is very cold. In general, diapause can only be initiated in this species if the day length is shorter than 13.5 hours. In Moscow, the day is much longer in July and August. There is information that sometimes diapausing pupae of this species are found on the Black Sea coast and, apparently, these are pupae from caterpillars that pupate in late October-November.
The purposefulness of migrations of this species is confirmed, albeit indirectly, but by a very large number of independent facts. This is a delay in the development of eggs, which is initiated only under certain conditions and the nature of the summer of this species, etc.
In general, there is reason to believe that for many African hawkmoth (and not only hawkmoth), migration is not the exception, but rather the rule. In many African species, there is a phenomenon of delayed egg development and at the same time the absence of pupal diapause (despite the fact that the food plants in some places completely dry up for several months). At the beginning of the dry season, it is often possible to catch females of a number of species that do not have eggs - Hippotion celerio, H. eson, Hyles livornica, Euchloron megaera, Basiothia medea, etc. With careful maintenance, the development of eggs in them begins after 2-3 weeks. In other conditions, this delay is not present (I checked it for leghorn, death's head, oleander, celerio hippotyone, bindweed)These butterflies are also characterized by unusually high activity and for some species there are very sharp fluctuations in the number-up to the unexpected arrival of literally a flock of butterflies. Such a summer can not be with a "radial spread". This all confirms the idea of targeted migrations. Most likely, migration to the northern regions of Eurasia is a secondary phenomenon that is characteristic of some African (and not only African) species - deadhead, bindweed, and possibly ruler, as well as for hippothionus and oleander. But the last two species do not go far to the north, which is quite logical, since there are no forage plants there. There are also specimens of oleander from Petrozavodsk and St. Petersburg, but such finds are very rare and, apparently, random. In contrast, death's head caterpillars in southern Europe are just like mud, not to mention loach. By the way, there are also articles about convulvuli migrations in West Africa (you need to search). In addition, there are a lot of articles about migrations of thistles, monarchs - there is certainly no doubt about them.

So that the topic doesn't get boring....
Mating poses of the hawk moth "dead head"
Classic

"tail-to-tail"

It's probably called Doggy stile

A what is the brood butterfly b. The death's head eats-drinks ??? It seems to be considered that her proboscis is underdeveloped - then why does she climb into the hives to the bees???

A what is the brood butterfly b. The death's head eats-drinks ??? It seems to be considered that her proboscis is underdeveloped - then why does she climb into the hives to the bees???

Where did you get this information? This species is very highly specialized and feeds on honey in hives. It has a very powerful proboscis (more than a millimeter thick, with a pointed end), which pierces honeycombs and sucks honey. Without food, butterflies do not lay eggs and do not reproduce. And they don't live long. B.death's head doesn't seem to eat anything else except honey, although there is evidence that Acherontia lachesis can pierce and suck fruit in addition to honey.

This post was edited by Euchloron-05.09.2012 14: 07

INFORMATION to think about:

1. I have repeatedly performed before meetings of Penza beekeepers with demonstrations of both photos and the dead head butterflies themselves-paradoxically, but the fact is: even the oldest and most experienced beekeepers have NEVER found dead head butterflies in their hives. Several times at the beehives were seen, there was a case... both the living and the dead... Although the airstrips were often quite passable for them.

2. I had brood heads from Penza caterpillars br. m. - but the proposed honey and honeycombs were treated coolly... (that is, I never saw food!??).

3. Hawk moth of this species is occasionally found in the south and center of the Penza region - finds of caterpillars of two forms in July and August. No one saw the manufacturers themselves in person...

4. Information about the underdeveloped proboscis from Soviet literature... which no doubt accumulated a lot of crap.

5. well, for experienced field entomologists, I think it will not be news that hawk moth butterflies come to water bodies to drink (including those species that are considered not to feed at all at the imago stage).
If you do not know this , then I will keep this information for my new article on hawkmoth software.

Sanych.

This post was edited by Penzyak - 06.09.2012 10: 52

1. Death's head butterflies do not live in hives, but only feed, probably for 10 minutes. Given that this species is not very common in the Penza region, it is not surprising that beekeepers did not find them in hives. In general, in places where there are many dead heads, they are often found. Moreover, there are a lot of works on this topic. For example, it was found that death's head imagos secrete special cuticular fatty acids, similar to those secreted by bees, so the latter do not attack them in hives. And there were also various experiments on launching butterflies into hives, which ate there and then came out alive and unharmed.

2. If you, for example, take a hawk moth feeding on flowers and give it a flower, then, with a high probability, it will not eat either. It's not a robot after all. I have deadheads very well ate honey directly from the honeycomb Attach a photo.

3. This is not surprising.

4. The proboscis can simply be viewed from any specimen in the collection))

5. It is known that many hawks can fly over the water and hit the surface of the water. But it is unlikely that they drink at the same time. This is difficult to imagine purely technically. Any hawkmoth that has a proboscis actively drinks water if they lack it, but it takes at least 5-10 seconds for a butterfly to suck out at least one drop. At the same time, in nature, it was repeatedly possible to observe how hawks "lick" dew drops from leaves and other surfaces.

5. It is known that many hawks can fly over the water and hit the surface of the water.

I've seen this happen before. I wonder why they do this.

Parasites are shot down

And what can hawkmoth butterflies deadhead need to try to catch on a honeycomb? Or set traps with them? After all, they find (clearly by smell) apiaries...

This is exactly how they drink - similar observations were published somewhere. Ticks from butterflies are very difficult to tear off...

Isn't it the same as the light? Many years ago, I used to collect moths from puddles in the forest in the morning (I should have been able to catch the birds earlier)

I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that they are attracted to the reflection of moonlight in the water... Once upon a time I found Hemaris sp. in a puddle, then it was very unclear how it got there)