Biology:Mimas tiliae

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Short description: Species of moth

Mimas tiliae
Lime hawk moth.jpg
Dillingen Falter.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Mimas
Species:
M. tiliae
Binomial name
Mimas tiliae
(Linnaeus, 1758)[1]
Synonyms
  • Mimas tiliae clara Mimas tiliae colon
  • Mimas tiliae constricta Mimas tiliae diluta
  • Mimas tiliae discifera Mimas tiliae excessiva
  • Mimas tiliae fasciata Mimas tiliae griseothoracea
  • Mimas tiliae inversa Mimas tiliae latefasciata
  • Mimas tiliae lutescens Mimas tiliae marginalis
  • Mimas tiliae margine-puncta Mimas tiliae montana
  • Mimas tiliae pallida-centripuncta Mimas tiliae pallida-costipuncta
  • Lempke, 1959 Tutt, 1902
  • Jordan, 1911 Gillmer, 1916
  • (Vilarrubia, 1973) (Vilarrubia, 1973)
  • Gillmer, 1905 (Clark, 1891)
  • (Lempke, 1959) Tutt, 1902
  • Tutt, 1902 Tutt, 1902
  • (Closs, 1911) (Clark, 1891)
  • Caradja, 1893 (Clark, 1891)
  • (Clark, 1891) Sphinx tiliae
  • Linnaeus, 1758 Smerinthus tiliae pechmanni
  • Smerinthus ulmi Heydenreich, 1851
  • Mimas tiliae pallida-marginepuncta Mimas tiliae pallida-transversa
  • Mimas tiliae postobscura Dilina tiliae brunnescens
  • Mimas tiliae rubra Mimas tiliae rufobrunnea
  • Mimas tiliae semiobsoleta Staudinger, 1901
  • Mimas tiliae virescens-bipunctata Mimas tiliae virescens-maculata
  • Mimas tiliae virescens-obsoleta Dilina tiliae exstincta
  • Mimas tiliae vitrina Smerinthus tiliae brunnea
  • Smerinthus tiliae centripuncta Staudinger, 1901
  • Hartmann, 1879 Dilina tiliae roseotincta
  • Schawerda, 1922 Merinthus tiliae tilioides
  • (Holle, 1865) Mimas tiliae angustefasciata
  • (Vilarrubia, 1973) Mimas tiliae atroviridis
  • Closs, 1911 Mimas tiliae bicolor
  • (Vilarrubia, 1973) Mimas tiliae bimaculata
  • Gillmer, 1916 Mimas tiliae bimarginalis
  • Gillmer, 1916 Mimas tiliae brunnea-centripuncta
  • Tutt, 1902 Mimas tiliae brunnea-costipuncta
  • Tutt, 1902 Mimas tiliae brunnea-marginepuncta
  • Tutt, 1902 Mimas tiliae brunnea-obsoleta
  • Tutt, 1902 Mimas tiliae brunnea-transversa
  • Tutt, 1902 Closs, 1917
  • Gillmer, 1916 Gillmer, 1916
  • Cockayne, 1953 Closs, 1917
  • Gillmer, 1916 Gillmer, 1916
  • Cabeau, 1931 Gillmer, 1916
  • (Vilarrubia, 1973) Tutt, 1902
  • Mecke, 1926 Tutt, 1902
  • Daniel & Wolfsberger, 1955 Tutt, 1902
  • Tutt, 1902 Tutt, 1902
  • Tutt, 1902 (Lempke, 1959)
  • (Lempke, 1959) Cockayne, 1953
  • Lenz, 1925 Tutt, 1902
  • Jordan, 1911 Lempke, 1937
  • Tutt, 1902 Tutt, 1902
  • Jordan, 1911 Gehlen, 1931
  • Bartel, 1900 (Clark, 1891)
  • Bartel, 1900 Bartel, 1900
  • Smerinthus tiliae maculata Mimas tiliae pallida-maculata
  • Mimas tiliae pallida-obsoleta Mimas tiliae pallida
  • Mimas tiliae pseudo-trimaculata Mimas tiliae reducta
  • Mimas tiliae rufescens Mimas tiliae semicentripuncta
  • Mimas tiliae suffusa Mimas tiliae typica-bipunctata
  • Mimas tiliae virescens-centripuncta Mimas tiliae virescens-marginepuncta
  • Mimas tiliae virescens-transversa Mimas tiliae viridis
  • Smerinthus tiliae bipunctata Smerinthus tiliae brunnea
  • Smerinthus tiliae costipuncta (Wallengren, 1863)
  • Smerinthus tiliae ulmi Smerinthus tiliae obsoleta
  • Smerinthus tiliae immaculata Mimas tiliae virescens
  • Mimas tiliae transversa Mimas tiliae pseudobipunctata

Mimas tiliae, the lime hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East, and has also been identified in Canada's east and western provinces and in northern Spain (Europe). The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Lime Hawk Moth Taken May 14th 2023.jpg

This species is quite variable, though not confusable with any other sphingid of the Palearctic in its markings, the ground colour of the forewings being pinkish or buff, darker towards the tornus, marked with one or two dark green or brown blotches which are sometimes merged to form a continuous band across the middle of the forewing. The hindwings are plainer, grey or buffish brown. The wingspan is 70–80 millimetres (2.8–3.1 in). It exhibits sexual dimorphism, the male usually being smaller but more strongly marked than the female. Usually, the forewing ground colour is brownish in females and decidedly green in males, but there are many exceptions. The female abdomen is straight and fat with fully formed eggs, which are already present when the female emerges (as in all species of Smerinthini). The male abdomen, on the other hand, is strongly curved and slender.

Forms include

  • f. brunnea Bartel ground colour brown
  • f. pallida Tutt ground colour grey
  • f. lutescens Tutt yellow
  • f. virescens Tutt ground colour green
  • f. transversa Tutt dark median band of the forewing entire
  • f. tiliae dark median band narrowly separated
  • f. obsoleta Clark dark median band completely absent

This moth flies at night in May and June,[Note 1] and is attracted to light. The adults do not feed.

The larva is green with yellow and red markings along the side and a blue horn at the hind end, typical of the family. It feeds mainly on lime but has also been recorded feeding on other trees and shrubs (see list below). The colour changes to purple-grey when ready to pupate, at which point the larvae wander in search of a pupation site.[2] The species overwinters as a pupa in the soil at the base of its host tree.

Recorded food plants

Notes

  1. The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

References

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q428187 entry