Enyo ocypete female courtesy of Dan Janzen.

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TAXONOMY: Family: Sphingidae, Latreille, 1802 Subfamily: Macroglossinae, Harris, 1839 Tribe: Dilophonotini, Burmeister, 1878 Genus: Enyo Hubner, [1819] ........... Species: ocypete (Linnaeus, 1758)

DISTRIBUTION:

Enyo ocypete (wingspan approx. 60 mm) flies from the southern United States through Central America to
Colombia: Meta (GN);
Venezuela: Amazonas, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro, Guarico, Lara, Portuguesa, Tachira, yaracuy;
French Guiana: Kaw;
Brazil: Mato Grosso; Minas Gerais (LV); southern Maranhao; Goias: D'agua (AB) and Aruana (KR)
Peru: Junin: Coviriali (662m); Loreto (SS); Lambayeque: Motupe (CICdlC); and
Bolivia: "Santa Cruz: Andrés Ibáñez; Ichilo, Buena Vista; La Víbora; Florida, Pampa Grande; La Paz: Larecaja, San Agustín, Mapiri, 3500'; Guanay, Mapiri R. 1500'; Santa Cruz: Ichilo, Buena Vista, 750m; Sarah, 450m; German Busch, Puerto Suárez, 150m; Ichilo, Buena Vista; Beni." Jean Haxaire. It also flies throughout
Paraguay: Concepcion; Guaira; Amambay; Presidente Hayes; and in
northern Argentina: Formosa, Misiones, Salta.

Enyo ocypete, Olhos D'agua, Goias, Brazil,
April 21, 2019, courtesy of Altervir Balista, id by Bill Oehlke.

Enyo ocypete is very similar to E. lugubris, but ocypete seems to have a lighter, more deeply scalloped area just below the forewing apex. The cell mark is also smaller in ocypete. Each antenna has a prominent apical brush of scales. On the male hindwing upperside there is a diagnostic pale yellowish-white anal patch. Females are similar to Enyo lugubris lugubris, but are easily distinguished by the broad brown belt across the base of the abdomen dorsally (this belt is either very narrow or absent in Enyo lugubris lugubris). The forewing upperside has a dark area not sharply defined, prolonged along the antemedian line to posterior margin. The discal spot is small. CATE Sphinx camertus Cramer, 1780, Surinam, is same as Enyo ocypete. Sphinx dunam Cramer, 1780, Surinam, is same as Enyo ocypete. Enyo ocypete, September 6, 2002 - 9:35 PM, courtesy of Steve Graser.

Enyo ocypete male, Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia,
January 19, 2011, 500m, courtesy of Gregory Nielsen.

FLIGHT TIMES:

Enyo ocypete broods continuously in the tropics, south Florida, and Louisiana. Moths are on the wing from August-November in more northern locales. In Bolivia, it has been recorded in January-April, August, October-December.

Vladimir Izersky confirms flights in February and April in Junin, Peru. Cesar Ivan Caballero de la Cruz reports a March flight in Motupe, Lambayeque, Peru.

Enyo ocypete, Motupe, Lambayeque, Peru, March 25, 2019,
courtesy of Cesar Ivan Caballero de la Cruz, id by Bill Oehlke.

Larry Valentine reports a December flight in Minas Grais, Brazil.

Visit Enyo ocypete male and female, live and spread, Coviriali, Junin, Peru, 662m, courtesy of Vladimir Izersky.

Visit Enyo ocypete male (recto and verso), Itanhandu, southern Minas Gerais, Brazil, December, 2009; July 25, 2012, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Enyo ocypete male, Loreto, Peru,
September 24, 2008, courtesy of Shirley Sekarajasingham, id by Bill Oehlke.

ECLOSION:

Adults eclose from pupae formed in loose cocoons in shallow underground burrows.

Enyo ocypete male courtesy of Dan Janzen.

Enyo ocypete male, Aruana, Goias, Brazil,
May 1, 2020, courtesy of Kennedy Road.

Enyo ocypete, Yacutinga Private Reserve, Misiones Province,
(near border between Argentina and Brazil), February
courtesy/copyright of Ezequiel Osvaldo Núñez Bustos.

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 during the day, making a strong whirring sound as they hover.

Enyo ocypete, Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil,
October 4, 2007, 71m, courtesy/copyright of Johan van't Bosch.

EGGS, LARVAE, PUPAE:

Larvae probably feed on Vitus tiliifolia and other members of the Vitaceae family: Vitis, Cissus rhombifolia, Ampelopsis. Tetracera volubilis, Curatella americana, Tetracera hydrophila and Doliocarpus multiflorus of the Dilleniaceae family also serves as a hosts, as does Ludwigia of the Onagraceae.

The "horn" is very long in early instars and head is relatively large. As the larva matures, the body develops rapidly, leaving the head relatively small and the "horn" relatively short. Mature larvae show considerable variation with one morph being quite pink.

Enyo ocypete larvae courtesy of Dan Janzen.

The pupa is dark and smooth with a sharp cremaster. Moths emerge in as few as fourteen days from pupation date.

Larvae may be parasitized by Belvosia sp. of the Tachinidae family and by Euplectrus floryae of the Eulophidae family.

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