''Cephonodes kingii'', the gardenia bee hawk, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths ( Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, ...

Distribution

It is found in the northern two thirds of Australia.

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is about 40 mm. Adults resemble bumble bees. They are mostly green with a yellow abdomen and a black band around the first few abdominal segments, and a dark mark on the next segment. There is a black fringe around the tip of the abdomen. The wings are mostly transparent except for an opaque area near the tip of the forewings. Cephonodes kingii MHNT CUT 2010 0 138 Cambridge Park, New South Wales Australia female dorsal.jpg, Dorsal (coll. MHNT) Cephonodes kingii MHNT CUT 2010 0 138 Cambridge Park, New South Wales Australia female ventral.jpg, Ventral (coll. MHNT)

Biology

Adults feed on flower nectar. The larvae have been recorded on ''

Gardenia jasminoides ''Gardenia jasminoides'', commonly known as gardenia, is an evergreen flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae. It is native to parts of South-East Asia. Wild plants range from 30 centimetres to 3 metres (about 1 to 10 feet) in height. The ...

'', ''

Canthium attenuatum ''Canthium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny. Distribution ''Canthium'' species are predominantly found in Southeast Asia, espe ...

'', '' Canthium coprosmoides'', ''

Canthium odoratum ''Psydrax odorata'', known as ''alahee'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. It is native to the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Description The species range from in height, h ...

'', ''

Canthium oleifolium ''Psydrax oleifolia'', commonly known as wild lemon or brush myrtle, is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to eastern and inland Australia, (Queensland and New South Wales). Description ''Psydrax oleifolia ...

'', ''

Gardenia ovularis ''Gardenia ovularis'' is a small tree in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to a very restricted part of north east Queensland, namely the coastal rainforests from the Bloomfield River southwards to Etty Bay, and with a further isolated o ...

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Gardenia ochreata ''Gardenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar and Pacific Islands, and Australia. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus and John Ellis aft ...

'', ''

Pavetta australiensis ''Pavetta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 360 species of trees, evergreen shrubs and sub-shrubs. It is found in woodlands, grasslands and thickets in sub-tropical and tropical Africa and Asia. The plan ...

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Medicago sativa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as ...

'' and ''

Citrus limon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culina ...

''. Young larvae are pale green with a short black tail horn. Later, they become black, grey, or green, often with black lines across the back. They have a posterior horn shaped like a shallow S, and have white spiracles along each side outlined in red. The head colour varies from brown to green. Pupation takes place underground in a dark brown pupa.

References

Cephonodes Moths described in 1826 {{Dilophonotini-stub