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Hippotion
Hubner
Type
species: celerio Linnaeus.
Synonym: Isoples Hubner (type species thyelia Linnaeus).
The remaining genera belong to the tribe Choerocampina, indeed to one
section of it according to the scheme of Rothschild & Jordan (1903).
They are distinguished from each other by those authors mainly on
characters of the labial palps, in some cases on whether a character is
present or absent, an unsatisfactory distinction given the desirability of
defining genera in terms of uniquely derived characteristics. The system
of Rothschild & Jordan will be followed here, though there is a case
for placing all under the oldest name, Theretra Hubner (by page priority),
until such a time as a modern revision is undertaken.
The forewings in all the genera are streamlined, triangular, as is the
appearance of the whole insect. The forewings are usually fasciated with a
series of strong, oblique parallel bands. The hindwings sometimes have
bright flash coloration, particularly pink or red. Abdominal markings are
usually longitudinal.
The male genitalia are all typically macroglossine.
The larvae tend to have linear markings, a thorax tapering from a swollen
A1, strong eye spots on A1 and sometimes weak ones on posterior segments,
particularly A2.
In the pupa the tongue-case is more prominently keeled than in other
macroglossines, produced forward and, in the case of Rhyncholaba
Rothschild & Jordan, free, curled round in a circle, the only
macroglossine to show such a feature apart from Elibia.
Host-plants range over many families but with some concentration in the
Araceae and Vitidaceae.
The genus Hippotion was defined by Rothschild & Jordan by the
palps:
the second segment lacks an apical tuft of scales, and the first is
densely scaled at the apex on the inner side.
It is diverse in the Old World tropics (D'Abrera, 1986: 189).
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