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Lepidoptera > Bombycoidea > Sphingidae > Macroglossinae > Macroglossini > Choerocampina > Deilephila

Deilephila rivularis (Boisduval, [1875]) – Obscure Elephant Hawkmoth

Deilephila rivularis – Obscure Elephant Hawkmoth

Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Deilephila rivularis
Indian and global distribution:
records (based on images):
Identification:
Sexual, seasonal & individual variation:
Status, Habitat and Habits:
Adult moth observations that have been databased:
StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Himachal Pradesh
Uttarakhand
All states
Similiar species:
Very similiar to Deilephila elpenor macromera found in the eastern Himalaya (Nepal and eastwards)

 "but more muted in colour, the khaki areas being dull olive-green and the pink areas less bright and more buff." Kitching, I. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory.

"pink on the underside far more evenly disposed over the disk of both wings than in the eastern form macromera." Hampson, 1892.

"Like P. e. macromera, but the rosy-red parts of body and wings shaded over with cinnamon, being far less bright than in macromera, especially on the wings." Bell & Scott, 1937. 

Deilephila elpenor seems to lack white spots on the abdominal segments, which are quite prominent in many individuals of D. rivularis (less prominent in some individuals). The use of this feature for separation of these two species needs verification by examining a wide range of museum specimens (pers. comm. Ian Kitching). 

List of Deilephila Laspeyres, 1809 known from India.
Deilephila elpenor (Linnaeus, 1758), Karnataka (Channi et al., 2017), North West India (Rafi et al., 2014).
Deilephila rivularis (Boisdual, (1875), Himachal Pradesh (Sidhu and Nair, 2017).
References:
  1. Bell, T.R.D & F. B. Scott. 1937. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol. 5. Taylor & Francis, London. Sphingidae, pg. 410 149a as Pergesa elpenor rivularis
  2. Hampson, G. 1892. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis, London. Pp. xxiii + 527. Saturniidae to Hypsidae, # 119, pg. 84 as Chaerocampa elpenor
  3. Khramov, P. Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera). http://insecta.pro/taxonomy/66851 [accessed 9 June 2016]
  4. Kitching, I. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory. http://sphingidae.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/869 [accessed 9 June 2016]
  5. Pittaway, A.R. & I.J. Kitching. Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic (including Siberia, the Russian Far East, Mongolia, China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and Japan.). http://tpittaway.tripod.com/sphinx/d_riv.htm [accessed 9 June 2016]
Notes on species: Individuals from Munsiari and Jhala in Uttarakhand were incorrectly identified as D. elpenor but are actually D. rivularis.(pers. comm. Ian Kitching). This was rectified on 7 July 2021. There are no confirmed records of D. elpenor from W. Himalayas (Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand). 

Lepidoptera > Bombycoidea > Sphingidae > Macroglossinae > Macroglossini > Choerocampina > Deilephila


Cite this page along with its URL as:
Anonymous. 2022. Deilephila rivularis (Boisduval, [1875]) – Obscure Elephant Hawkmoth. In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Moths of India, v. 3.30. Indian Foundation for Butterflies. http://www.mothsofindia.org/sp/355651/Deilephila-rivularis
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