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Brown Striped Hawk

Basiothia schenki

Photo by Johan Heyns
Published on Project Noah
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-26.4993, 28.3396

Field Notes

Description:

Beautifull sphinx moth attracted to the porch light.

Notes:

The Brown Striped Hawk (Basiothia schenki) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Zimbabwe and South Africa.[2]
It has a close plant-pollinator relationship with Disa cooperi, whose scent attracts only two hawkmoth species, Basiothia schenki and Agrius convolvuli, that can effectively pollinate its flower. The moths’ proboscis length and the orchid’s spur length align perfectly with its petals and position of the pollinaria and stigma, although B. schenki has a shorter proboscis than A. convolvuli and must fly almost up to the flower and press against it.[3] Adults are also pollinators of Zaluzianskya natalensis
The larvae feed on Vernonia species. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basiothia_schenki)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)

Fascinating note thanks to positive ID
I know the ID is coming from Peter, and I would not dare to challenge an ID from him, but I am not happy with Lineata and Livornica! Lineata is not native from RSA and looks in my eyes completely different: spots and markings on the body are different, interrupted white line and black spots at the side of this white median line. In yours this line is straight and has no additional spots. Lineata has a clear grayish band at the base of the forewing, yours not. Lineata has some kind of triangular white lines on the head, yours not. I apologize, but this is not Hyles lineata, at least not the one I know from the Americas: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6843236

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