Tersa Sphinx

[Pierre Zagatti]

Ted Ryznar wrote:
>
> I caught a Tersa sphinx(Xylophanes tersa) at the light last night. Is
> anyone familiar with their host plants? Covells book states Manettia
> species, smooth buttonplant and starclusters. I have not been able to find
> any reference to these in the plant books that I have available. I live in
> Northwestern Pa and have never seen or heard of any of the listed host
> plants. I think the 4- wheelers killed them all(just kidding). Any other
> known host plants? Are these very common in other areas? Also , although it
> is probably a male is there an easy way to tell the sex of these sphinx.
> The body is very long and slender coming down to a point. Thanks in
> advance. A very beautiful moth.
>
>                                       Ted Ryznar
>                                       tryznar at mail.cosmosbbs.com


You'll find a web page on Xylophanes tersa at:
http://www.jouy.inra.fr/papillon/sphingid/texteng/x_tersa.htm
The larvae can be found on Rubiaceae. As they occur thoughout Americas,
the host plant vary considerably with the latitude.



--
Pierre Zagatti
INRA Phytopharmacie et Mediateurs Chimiques
78026 Versailles Cedex
France
zagatti at versailles.inra.fr
http://www.jouy.inra.fr/papillon/