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Ambulyx
Westwood
Type
species: substrigilis Westwood.
Synonym: Oxyambulyx Rothschild & Jordan (type species substrigilis
Westwood).
There has been some confusion of the identity of this genus in the past,
and the species below have invariably been referred to Oxyambulyx.
Fletcher & Nye (1982) have clarified the situation and listed
instances of the erroneous use of Ambulyx by other authors; Rothschild
& Jordan considered Westwood's name to be a nomen nudum.
The genus is best defined by characteristics of the wings and of the male
genitalia. The forewing is apically acute, in shades of grey, buff or
yellowish buff, the veins often picked out darker, crossed by fine
irregular dark fasciae except for an evenly curved and much stronger
submarginal that encloses a lenticular zone at the margin. The hindwings
are usually yellow with irregular black fasciation. A number of species
have subbasal dark brown or green spots on the forewing, with one
subdorsally being the most frequent, and also a subtornal one, but these
are not universal and can be diagnostic for species. The thorax has broad
dark green bands laterally. The abdomen in most species has a thin dark
line dorsally.
The male genitalia have the uncus undivided, apically bulbous, and the
gnathus often apically bifid. The harpe is usually well developed, with
two well splayed, slender spines, or a spine and a dentate ridge. The
aedeagus apex usually bears three slender processes running into the
vesica, two serrate and one smooth.
The larva is typically sphingine, green, with pale oblique stripes and a
strong anal horn.
There is some frequency of members of the Anacardiaceae amongst the
host-plant records for the genus.
Ambulyx is most diverse in the Oriental Region from India to Sundaland but
extends as far east as the Solomons (D'Abrera, 1986: 55).
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