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Hippotion velox

a Hawkmoth

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Specimen and wing detail (Pukapuka)	75KB
Image:	Caterpillar (Pukapuka)	63KB
Image:	Variants: Fiji with Tokelau (similar to Pukapuka)	77KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: a Hawkmoth

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE incl. Fiji - Tonga - Tokelau - n.Cooks; n. to Micronesia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - unknown; N.Group - PK; Land, coastal lowlands

KEY FEATURES: Thick-set moth to 40mmBL. THORAX & ABDOMEN uniformly grey-brown. FOREWING grey-brown with central black spot and 2 faint pale wavy stripes; outer hind-edge with black bars on the veins. HINDWING fore-half grey-brown, hind-half orange-brown with a scalloped grey stripe; hindedge pale.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			++

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Hippotion velox
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Lepidoptera; SPHINGIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: specimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack, ID "possibly Hippotion velox" by J.Dugdale, confirmed G.McCormack against BPBM specimens from Tokelau/Tonga/Fiji as a pale form similar to the form in Tokelau, 5/2004.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB04a, zM04a, zD04a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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