Basiothia schenki

Basiothia schenki
Caterpillar feeding on Pentanisia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Basiothia
Species:	B. schenki
Binomial name
Basiothia schenki (Moschler, 1872)[1]
Synonyms
Chaerocampa schenki Möschler, 1872 Chaerocampa protocharis Möschler, 1872

The brown striped hawk (Basiothia schenki) is a moth of the Sphingidae family. It is known from Zimbabwe and South Africa.^[2]

It has a close plant-pollinator relationship with Disa cooperi, whose scent attracts only two hawkmoth species, Basiothia schenki and Agrius convolvuli, that can effectively pollinate its flower. The moths’ proboscis length and the orchid’s spur length align perfectly with its petals and position of the pollinaria and stigma, although B. schenki has a shorter proboscis than A. convolvuli and must fly almost up to the flower and press against it.^[3] Adults are also pollinators of Zaluzianskya natalensis

The larvae feed on Vernonia species.

References

1. "CATE Creating a Taxonomic eScience - Sphingidae". Cate-sphingidae.org. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
2. "Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African species" (PDF). Biodiversitylibrary.org. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
3. "After dark, moths, as well as bats, take over the pollinating night shift". Aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu. Retrieved 2011-10-26.