Enyo gorgon, Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
August 23, 2007, 71m, courtesy/copyright of Johan van't Bosch.

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TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839 Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878 Genus: Enyo Hubner, [1819] ........... Species: gorgon gorgon (Cramer, 1777)

Enyo gorgon gorgon courtesy of Paolo Mazzei.

DISTRIBUTION:

Enyo gorgon gorgon (wingspan: approx. 66-72 mm) flies in
Mexico: Quintana Roo (BT) and elsewhere; and
Belize: Corozol, Cayo, probably Orange Walk through
Guatemala;
Honduras;
El Salvador;
Nicaragua;
Costa Rica;
Panama;
Venezuela: Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Distrito Federal, Miranda, Portuguesa, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy;
Guyana;
Suriname;
French Guiana: Kaw;
Brazil: Mato Grosso; Rio de Janeiro: Three Rivers (LRV); Sao Paulo (PL); Minas Gerais: Nova Lima (BM); Rio Grande do Sul: Caraa (PRH)
Colombia;
Ecuador: Pichincha (HM);
Peru: Junin;
Paraguay: Presidente Hayes, Concepcion, San Pedro, Canindeyu, Alto Parana, Cordillera, Caaguazu, Paraguari, Guaira, Caazapa, (probably Central and Itapua (WO));
Argentina: Misiones and
Bolivia: "Santa Cruz: Andrés Ibáñez; La Paz: Larecaja, San Agustín, Mapiri, 3500'." Jean Haxaire.

Surinam is the specimen type locality.

Enyo gorgon, April, 2007, southern Yucatan peninsula, near Tulum, Mexico,
courtesy of Nina C. Wilde.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Enyo gorgon gorgon probably has two to three broods annually, with adults taken in Costa Rica from May to June, August to September and from December to January.

In Bolivia, specimens have been recorded in October-November. Johan van't Bosch reports an August flight in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Lucius Rabello Vasconcellos reports and April flight in Three Rivers, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Paulo Renato Huppes reports an early June flight in Caraa, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Vladimir Izersky reports them on the wing in February in Peru.

Paula Larizzatti reports an April flight of Enyo gorgon in Pinhalzinho, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Enyo gorgon female, Rio Venado, Junin, Peru,
February 18, 2008, 1050m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Early evening, just prior to 7:00 pm seems to be a popular flight time response to lights in Bolivia with both males and females coming to lights.

Enyo gorgon, Yacutinga Private Reserve, Misiones, Argentina,
September 2007, courtesy/copyright Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos.

Enyo gorgon female, Cerro Santa Ana, Misiones, Argentina,
August 12, 2010, courtesy/copyrightEzequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae formed in subterranean chambers.

Enyo gorgon gorgon female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Enyo gorgon gorgon male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

SCENTING AND MATING:

Females call in the males with a pheromone released from a gland at the tip of the abdomen. Both males and females nectar at flowers. Females, active from 12:30 - 2:00 pm, are seldom taken at lights while males, active from 1:00 - 3:00 am, are more common.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae feed on Vitus tiliifolia and other members of the Vitaceae family. The "horn" is very long in early instars and head is relatively large.

Enyo gorgon male, La Union del Toachi, Pichincha, Ecuador,
November 12, 1998, courtesy of Hubert Mayer.

Enyo gorgon female, La Union del Toachi, Pichincha, Ecuador,
November 12, 1998, courtesy of Hubert Mayer.

Enyo gorgon third instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Enyo gorgon fourth instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Enyo gorgon fifth instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Enyo gorgon fifth instar, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico,
courtesy of Ben Trott

Larvae also feed on Tetracera volubilis of the Dilleniaceae family. The "horn" is quite diminished in the final instar and now the head is small compared to body girth.

Eclosion from pupa is about four weeks after pupation, although Bruno Moraes has reported eclosion in as few as 18 days. The pupa is dark and smooth with a long, sharp cremaster.

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