''Rufoclanis numosae'', the wavy polyptychus, 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, ...

. The species was first described by

Hans Daniel Johan Wallengren Hans Daniel Johan Wallengren (8 June 1823 – 25 October 1894) was a Swedish clergyman and entomologist. Biography He was born in Lund, Sweden. Wallengren became a student at Lund University from 1842, was ordained a priest in 1847 and was ap ...

in 1860. It is known from dry bush and arid savanna in much of eastern and southern Africa. The length of the forewings is 22–30 mm for males and 34–36 mm for females and 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 54–58 mm.

Subspecies

*''Rufoclanis numosae numosae'' — Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe, north-eastern South Africa *''Rufoclanis numosae rostislavi'' Haxaire & Melichar, 2009 — Ethiopia *''Rufoclanis numosae subjectus'' (Walker, 1869) — Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia

References

Rufoclanis Moths described in 1860 Moths of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxa named by Hans Daniel Johan Wallengren {{Smerinthini-stub