Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Sphingidae Scientific name Erinnyis obscura | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Erinnyis Rank Species | |
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Similar Erinnyis, Erinnyis alope, Erinnyis crameri, Erinnyis lassauxii, Erinnyis oenotrus | ||
Erinnyis obscura (obscure sphinx) is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It lives from the northern part of South America up to the central United States.
The wingspan is 56–65 mm. Females have almost uniformly grey forewings with black markings on the basal half and near the center of the costa, although some are nearly all black. The upperside of the male forewing is pale gray with black markings and a black line in the center running from the base to about three-fourths of the wing length. In both sexes, the hindwing upperside is orange with a narrow black border.
Adults are on wing year round in the tropics, southern Florida and southern Texas.
The caterpillars feed on various members of the Apocynaceae family, including Rauvolfia ligustrina, Rauvolfia tetraphylla, *Stemmadenia obovata, Philibertia, Cynanchum and Carica papaya as well as Asclepiadaceae and spurge species, including Blepharodon mucronatum, White vine (Sarcostemma clausum) and Morrenia odorata.
