Rhagastis olivacea

{{Short description|Species of moth}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Rhagastis olivacea BMNHE812989 male up.jpg

| taxon = Rhagastis olivacea

| authority = (Moore, 1872){{cite web|url=http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Rhagastis/olivacea.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024074146/http://www.cate-sphingidae.org/taxonomy/Rhagastis/olivacea.html|archivedate=2012-10-24|url-status=dead |title=CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae |publisher=Cate-sphingidae.org |accessdate=2011-10-25}}{{PD-notice}}

| synonyms =

  • Pergesa olivacea Moore, 1872

}}

Rhagastis olivacea, the olive mottled hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae.

Distribution

It is found from north-western India across Nepal, northern Myanmar, northern Thailand and southern China to northern Vietnam.{{cite web |last1=Pittaway |first1=A. R. |last2=Kitching |first2=I. J. |date=2018 |url=http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/r_oli.htm |title=Rhagastis olivacea (Moore, 1872) -- Olive mottled hawkmoth |website=Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic |accessdate=December 17, 2018}}

Description

The wingspan is 72–92 mm. It can be distinguished from all other Rhagastis species by the yellowish-green ground colour of the forewing upperside with narrow and indistinct reddish transverse lines and bands, and a shuttle-shaped marginal area bordered irregularly with bluish-white scales, most strongly at the apex and tornus.

Adults are lachryphagous (meaning they drink tears).Bänziger, H. 1992. Remarkable new cases of moths drinking human tears in Thailand (Lepidoptera: Thyatiridae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae). Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 40: 91–102.

Larvae have been recorded feeding on Impatiens species in India.

References