"Proboscis case" in Sphingidae pupae
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2024 1:16 am
The pupae of some Sphingidae possess an external structure, presumably covering the developing proboscis of future moth. It looks like it is present only in some species of Sphinginae subfamily and absent in Macroglossinae and Smerinthinae. Does anyone know the scientific name of this structure? Is there a correlation between the length of this "proboscis case" and the length of imago's proboscis? I could not find any publications on this matter.
- M.sexta pupae DSC_3886.jpg (368.54 KiB) Viewed 7479 times