Nephele bipartita

Description

Nephele bipartita is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from lowland forest and heavy woodland from West Africa to the coast of Kenya and Tanzania and to Malawi and Mozambique. The length of the forewings is 34–38 mm. It is very similar to Nephele monostigma, but the olive dorsal spots of the abdomen are larger, the black lateral spots are not separated by brownish buff, but by the ground colour and the forewings are not falcate. The ground colour is pale yellowish olive and the area beyond the dark diagonal bar is dark brown except at the costa and apex. The stigma is absent. The hindwings are dark olive brown, but darker at the apex and termen. The larvae feed on Landolphia species. They have a purple brown head, densely speckled with pale dots and a darker mark shaped like an inverted V. The body is dark brown with a black dorsal line which is edged indistinctly with pinkish.