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Species Erinnyis ello - Ello Sphinx - Hodges#7834

Representative Images

Green Caterpillar - Erinnyis ello Ello Sphinx - Erinnyis ello strange worm - Erinnyis ello Large green larva with green dorsal stripe - Erinnyis ello Orange hornworm moth caterpillar on Dahoon Holly - Erinnyis ello Erinnyis ello Ello Sphinx cat 2 - Erinnyis ello Ello Sphinx - Erinnyis ello
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Bombycoidea (Silkworm, Sphinx, and Royal Moths)
Family Sphingidae (Sphinx Moths)
Subfamily Macroglossinae
Tribe Dilophonotini
Genus Erinnyis
Species ello (Ello Sphinx - Hodges#7834)

Hodges Number

7834

Other Common Names

Cassava Hornworm

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Erinnyis ello (Linnaeus, 1758)
Sphinx ello Linnaeus 1758

Numbers

600376

Size

Wingspan 75-85 mm.

Identification

Sexually dimorphic. (1)

            ♂                             ♀

Larva: (2)
Horn reduced to a low point, arising from an elevated angular hump.
In the last instar, the horn is reduced to a nub.
Eyespot over the third thoracic segment is hidden in the resting caterpillar.
Ornately banded thoracic and prolegs.
Length to 7cm.

Erinnyis ello caterpillars come in a seemingly endless variety.

The pupa, seemingly aposematic, is shiny black with orange bands and lines. (2)

Range

Southern Florida and southern Texas. (2)
Strays north to Canada. (1)
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some collection locations and dates.
Central and South America, including the Galapagos Islands

Habitat

Hammocks, orchards and yards. (2)

Season

Breeds year-round in southern Florida and south Texas.(2)
Strays north during August and October.(3)

Food

Recorded feeding on members of the following plant families: Caricaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrtaceae, Sapotaceae.

Life Cycle

Usually pupates above ground in the leaf litter (2)

Remarks

This is quite the commonest of all the hawkmoths of the American tropics, and becomes a perfect drug in collections made by amateur naturalists, who venture into those regions, net in hand. (1)

See Also

Erinnyis obscura
Compare on the pinned plates of Moth Photographers Group.

Print References

Comstock, J.A. & C.M. Dammers 1938. Studies on the metamorphoses of six California moths. Southern California Academy of Scirnces 37(3). p. 105, pl. 31-33.
Hodges, R.W., 1971. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 21. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation. p. 99; pl. 9.6-7. (4)
Holland, W.J., 1922. The Moth Book. Doubleday, Page & Company. p. 58. (1)
Tuttle, J. P., 2007. Hawk Moths of North America. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation. p. 135; pl. 4.9-10.(5)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (6)
Silkmoths - species page by Bill Oehlke.
BAMONA (7)
Systema Naturae, 10th ed., v.1, p.491    Linnaeus' original description of the species (in Latin)
Wikipedia
Sphingidae.US - Erinnyis ello

Works Cited

1.The Moth Book
W. J. Holland. 1922. Doubleday, Page & Company.
2.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
3.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
4.The Moths of America North of Mexico Fascicle 21 Sphingidae
Ronald W. Hodges. 1971. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
5.The Hawk Moths of North America, A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada.
James P Tuttle. 2007. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation Inc.
6.North American Moth Photographers Group
7.Butterflies of North America
Contributed by Alan Chin Lee on 2 September, 2004 - 11:59pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Matthew Roth, Chuck Entz, Mike Quinn, Maury Heiman, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, teakh
Last updated 12 October, 2019 - 7:13pm

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