FAMILY SPHINGIDAE
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Cephonodes Hubner

Type species: hylas Linnaeus.
Synonym: Potidaea Wallengren (type species hylas Linnaeus).

This genus contains several day-flying species that appear to mimic large Hymenoptera. The antennae are strongly clubbed. The wings are mainly clear, with a black border and dark veins prominent, though in freshly emerged moths the transparent areas are covered by greenish scales that are lost during the first flight. The thorax and abdomen are mainly bright green, with black and yellow rings or patches. The abdomen bears a fan of scales apically. The mid- and hindcoxae have tooth-like projections posteriorly.

The male genitalia are strikingly asymmetrical, both in the valves and the tenth segment. The gnathus can be entire or deeply divided; the uncus is entire or slightly divided.

The larvae are green to dark brown with a paler dorsolateral line. The horn is very long in early instars. Host-plants are mostly in the family Rubiaceae.

Most species are found in the Indo-Australian tropics. The type species is found in the Afrotropical Region also, and there are further species in the Malagasy Region (D'Abrera, 1986: 116). Many are strongly migratory and have been taken at sea or on small oceanic islands.

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