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Sataspes
Moore
Type
species: infernalis Westwood.
Synonym: Myodezia Boisduval (type species infernalis).
Species in this genus are strikingly modified in wing and body shape to
mimic large bees of the genus Xylocopa; the colour also reflects this
mimicry.
In
the male genitalia the uncus is bifid. The narrow valve is strikingly
modified into dorsal and ventral processes at the apex, the latter an
extended harpe.
Rothschild & Jordan associated the genus with Cephonodes in the
Macroglossinae but Riotte (1981) reviewed adult, pupal and larval
characteristics that caused him to transfer the genus to the Sphinginae:
Smerinthini. These characters include: lack of sensory hairs on the adult
labial palps that characterise Macroglossinae, but presence of
dumbbell-shaped scales as in Smerinthini; larva with a triangular head,
granulations and oblique lateral stripes.
The pupa was stated by Bell & Scott (1937) to be Smerinthine in
appearance. Pupation is in a cell close to the soil surface or in a rough
cocoon on the surface.
Host-plants are in the family Leguminosae.
There are four species, all Oriental, in the genus (D'Abrera, 1986: 118).
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