Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 28, 2026

Basiothia medea

Basiothia medea, the small verdant hawk, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is common in open habitats throughout the Ethiopian Region, including Madagascar. It is however probably absent from the equatorial forest belt, except as a vagrant. The species is an active migrant.

Last revised
Jul 28, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
204 w
Citations
3
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Small verdant hawk
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Basiothia
Species:
B. medea
Binomial name
Basiothia medea
(Fabricius, 1781)1
Synonyms
  • Sphinx medea Fabricius, 1781
  • Sphinx minus Fabricius, 1787
  • Sphinx idrieus Drury, 1782
  • Sphinx clio Fabricius, 1793
  • Sphinx onothberina Martyn, 1797
  • Choerocampa transfigurata Wallengren, 1860
  • Basiothia nigrita Clark, 1920
  • Basiothia idricus Walker, 1856

Basiothia medea, the small verdant hawk, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is common in open habitats throughout the Ethiopian Region, including Madagascar. It is however probably absent from the equatorial forest belt, except as a vagrant. The species is an active migrant.2

The length of the forewings is 22–25 mm and the wingspan is 49–63 mm.

The larvae feed on Spermacoce natalensis, Dioda, Spermacoce, Pentas and Pentasinia species.3

References

References

  1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-10-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. Carcasson, R. H. (1967). "Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African species". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum. 26 (3): 1–173. doi:10.5962/p.238439 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. De Prins, J. & De Prins, W. (2018). "Basiothia medea (Fabricius, 1781)". Afromoths. Retrieved December 5, 2018.