Paper Title
External Morphology and Development of the Hawk Moth, Macroglossum Belis (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera : Sphingidae)
Abstract
The common hawk moth Macroglossum belis) Lepidoptera : Sphingidae) wasstudied under laboratory conditions
as well as in the field. Morphology of hawk moth, the egg, larval instars, prepupa, pupa, and adults was described and
illustrated in this paper.Developmental characteristics of each life stage are described. In an experiments in with larvae were
reared with noni leaves, Morindacitrifolia L. (Rubiaceae). Males and females were fed with 30% of honey solution. The
female hawk moth laid 65-94 eggs/insect. Eggs were deposited singly on the underside or upperside of noni foliage. The egg
incubation period was averaged3.26 days. The mean duration time of five larval instars of hawk moth was 1.90, 1.69, 1.45,
1.80 and 3.81 days, respectively. The total larval period including prepupal stage was 12.36 days. The pupal stage lasted
10.65 days. The longevity of males and female was 9.00 and 9.80 days, respectively.The mean head capsule width for the
instar 1-5 was 0.61, 0.97, 1.44, 2.10 and 3.49 mm, respectively. The larval caudal horn lengths were 1.45, 2.46, 4.44, 7.06
and 8.29 mm, respectively.
Keywords- development, external morphology, host plants, Macroglossum belis(Linnaeus)