Amata phegea ligata (Allioni, 1766)

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes,
ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis.
Editio decima, reformata. Tomus I. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae; p. 494 (as
Sphinx phegea).

Translated from the Latin original.

Phegea. 33. Sphinx greenish-black, the wings with window-like dots: six on the
upper wings, two on the lower; the abdomen with a yellow girdle.
Frisch, Ins. 6, p. 33, pl. 15, a poor figure.
Lives in Germany, P. Forsskål; in Syria, Hasselquist.
Size and build of the preceding, but entirely greenish-black. Antennae
filiform, whitish above at the tips. Wings with window-like spots or dots: on
the upper wings 1, 2, 3; on the lower 2, the second smaller one towards the
base of the wing. Abdomen with a yellow girdle in the middle, on one segment,
which does not close beneath; at the base of the abdomen the rudiment of a
yellow girdle.

The preceding species, to which the size and build are compared (p. 494):
Filipendulae. 32. Sphinx with the upper wings blue with six red dots; the
lower red, unspotted. Lives on Spiraea Filipendula.

Original Latin text:
Phegea. 33. S. viridi-atra, alis punctis fenestratis: superiorum sex,
inferiorum duobus, abdomine cingulo luteo. Frisch. ins. 6. p. 33. t. 15. mala.
Habitat in Germania P. Forsskål. Syria Hasselqvist. Magnitudo & statura
prioris, sed tota viridi-atra. Antennae filiformes, apicibus supra albicantes.
Alae maculis s. punctis fenestratis: in superioribus 1, 2, 3; in inferioribus
2: altera minore versus basin alae. Abdomen in medio Cingulo luteo unius
segmenti, quod subtus non coit; ad basin abdominis rudimentum cinguli lutei.

Hampson, G. F. (1898). Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British
Museum, vol. 1, Catalogue of the Syntomidae. British Museum, London; p. 110
(as Syntomis phegea).

193. Syntomis phegea.

Sphinx phegea, Linn. Syst. Nat. x. p. 494 (1758); Drury, Ill. Exot. Ent. i.
pl. 25. f. 2; Esp. Eur. Schmett. ii. p. 144, pl. 17. ff. 1, 2; Hübn. Eur.
Schmett. ii. ff. 99, 100; Staud. Cat. p. 50; Kirby, Cat. Het. p. 90.
Sphinx ligata, All. Mél. Phil.-math. Turin, 1762-65, p. 193 (1766).
Zygaena quercus, Fabr. Ent. Syst. 3. i. p. 388 (1793).
Sphinx iphimedia, Esp. Eur. Schmett. ii. (2) p. 49, pl. 47. f. 4 (1801).
Sphinx clelia, Esp. Eur. Schmett. ii. (2) p. 46 (1801), id. ii. (1) p. 220,
pl. 34. f. 1; Hübn. Eur. Schmett. ii. f. 80; Borkh. Eur. Schmett. ii. pp. 7,
117 (1789).
Syntomis nigricornis, Alph. Rev. Mens. Ent. i. p. 18 (1883).

Black shot with metallic green; antennae white at tips; pectus with yellow
patches; abdomen with an orange patch on basal segment and band on 5th
segment. Fore wing with small white spot below base of cell; a spot in end of
cell which may be reduced to a speck; an oblique rather elongate spot below
end of cell and vein 2; and spots between veins 3 and 5 and above 6. Hind wing
with two spots below the cell, sometimes reduced to one speck, often large,
conjoined, and with a spot below vein 1; a spot above vein 2, and usually a
smaller spot above 3, the spots being often large and almost confluent with
the spots below cell.

Fore wing with veins 4, 5 sometimes shortly stalked.

Ab. 1. nigricornis: antennae with the tips black.

Ab. 2. clelia: fore wing with the spots reduced to a small spot below base of
cell and oblique streak below vein 2, or absent; hind wing with one spot above
vein 2.

Ab. 3. iphimedea: wings without spots.

Larva thickly clothed with fasciculate tufts of long brown hair on the
tubercles.

Hab. France; Belgium; Germany; S.E. Europe, Zeller and Frey Colls.; Caucasus.
Exp. 38-48 millim.

Hampson, G. F. (1914). Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British
Museum, Supplement, vol. 1, Catalogue of the Amatidae and Arctiadae (Nolinae
and Lithosianae). British Museum, London; p. 40 (as Amata phegea).

195. Amata phegea, insert:--

Ab. krugeri, Ragusa, Nat. Sicil. xvii. p. 20, pl. 1. f. 2 (1904).
Fore wing with the hyaline spots in submedian interspace confluent; hind wing
with the spots large and almost confluent.

Ab. cyclopea, Ragusa, Nat. Sicil. xvii. p. 20, pl. 1. f. 3 (1904).
Fore wing without hyaline spots; hind wing with one spot above vein 2.

Seitz, A. (1910). Syntomis. In: Seitz, A. (ed.), The Macrolepidoptera of the
World, vol. 2, The Palaearctic Bombyces and Sphinges. Alfred Kernen,
Stuttgart; p. 38, pl. 9 a (as Syntomis phegea).

S. phegea L. (= quercus F.) (9 a). Blue-black, forewing with 6, hindwing with
2 white spots. Abdomen with a yellow ring each on segments 1 and 5. Very
widely distributed over Europe and Anterior Asia, but local, being absent from
large districts, for instance the North and North-West, in the South and
South-East on the contrary often abundant. -- The Central Asiatic form
ganssuensis Gr.-Grsh., from Kuku-Nor, which is not known to me, is said to
have one orange-coloured band on the abdomen; the forewing bears 6, the
hindwing 2 spots, as in true phegea. -- pfluemeri Wacq. (9 a) is a form
bearing 5 dots, which occurs here and there among ordinary specimens in the
North, but is the usual form in the South, for instance at the Riviera,
although specimens with 6 spots (sexmaculata Gian.) are also found there. --
In the same way, in the Caucasus one regularly meets with specimens whose
antennae are entirely black without white tips; this is nigricornis Alph. --
The dots themselves may be enlarged and partially confluent, e. g. in ab.
kruegeri Ragusa (9 a), which Krüger found in Sicily. -- On the other hand,
specimens with reduced spots are not rare, for instance ab. phegeus Esp. (9
b), where the spots are smaller and some entirely obsolete, so that the
forewing bears only 4 and the hindwing one small dot. In ab. cloelia Bkh. (9
b) there is only one spot on the forewing and none at all on the hindwing. Ab.
cyclopaea Ragusa, found in Sicily, bears no spots at all on the forewing and
only one distinct one on the hindwing. And in iphimedia Esp. (9 b) all spots
are obsolete. -- These aberrant specimens occur among true phegea, and are
common one year and rarer the next; but on the whole they are found more
frequently in the south of the region, for instance at the Riviera, in Italy,
and Sicily. -- The yellow eggs are deposited in clusters on blades of grass.
The larvae hibernate and feed on grass or low-growing plants; they are covered
with brown woolly tufts on a black ground, and are full-grown in June. The
moths are on the wing in June and July on sunny slopes and in dry woods. The
females have a very stout, heavy body and comparatively short wings; they
remain in the grass, awaiting the males.

Seitz, A. (1913). Errata and Addenda to Vol. 2. In: Seitz, A. (ed.), The
Macrolepidoptera of the World, vol. 2, The Palaearctic Bombyces and Sphinges.
Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart; p. 444.

P. 38. To Syntomis phegea L. A form with the vitreous white spots larger and
more numerous is described by Ramme as fenestrata (Inter. Entom. Zeitschr.
Guben 5, p. 103 (1911)). -- In ab. seminigra Spul. there are spots on the
hindwing, but not on the forewing.

Allioni, C. (1766). Manipulus insectorum Taurinensium. Mélanges de Philosophie
et de Mathématique de la Société Royale de Turin (Miscellanea Taurinensia) 3
(1762-1765): 185-198; p. 193 (as Sphinx ligata).

Translated from the Latin original.

Sphinx ligata, with all the wings black spotted with white: the abdomen with a
double golden band.
Antennae whitish at the tip. Abdomen blue, with a golden band towards the base
and towards the middle. A golden spot on the claviculae of the 4 hind legs.

Original Latin text:
Sphinx ligata, alis omnibus nigris albo maculatis: abdominis fascia duplici
aurea. Antennae apice albido. Abdomen caeruleum basim, & medium versus fascia
aurea. Macula aurea in claviculis 4. posticorum pedum.