Belongs within: Sphingidae.
The Sphingini are a group of hawk moths with a well-developed proboscis but without sensory hairs on the labial palp. The larva is usually patterned with oblique stripes and usually bears a horn. Species of the genus Sphinx differ from other hawk moths in the presence of spines on the fore tibia and lack of a pulvillus (Pittaway 1993). Manduca is a New World genus with mottled fore wings.
Characters (from here): Fore wing ground colour brown or grey, with numerous undulating crossbands. Hind wing usually with dark submarginal bands; central area yellow, brown or pink. Inner surface of second segment of labial palpus depressed with a naked area, or scaled and lacking this depression. Proboscis normally well developed and functional. Abdominal spines of variable length and arranged in several overlapping rows. Male with uncus broad basally and with uncinate extension or a flat tip; gnathos absent, but if present, bilobate or entire, then both uncus and gnathos heavily sclerotised apically; sacculus variable, but with two pointed, straight or curved processes, or with extended, pectinate apical processes. Female with short or long ductus bursae, which is evenly broadened. Larva usually with several oblique lateral stripes, and smooth in the final instar. Horn usually present. Pupa with proboscis free from body in those species with adults bearing an elongate proboscis, fused to body in species where the adult has a short proboscis; labrum displaced ventrally; abdominal segments 5–7 bearing one or two spiracular furrows.
<==Sphingini
| i. s.: Megacorma obliquaAJ05
|--+--Dolba hyloeusRM01
| `--ManducaRM01
| |--M. albiplagaDS73
| |--M. quinquemaculata (Haworth 1803)P93
| |--M. rusticaDS73
| |--M. sesquiplex (de Boisduval 1870) [=Sphinx sesquiplex]NS07
| `--M. sexta (Linnaeus 1763)P93
`--+--CeratomiaRM01
| |--C. amyntorRM01
| |--C. catalpaeRM01
| `--C. undulosa (Walker 1856)P93
`--+--Lapara coniferarumRM01
`--Sphinx Linnaeus 1758RM01, P93 (see below for synonymy)
|--*S. ligustri Linnaeus 1758P93
| |--S. l. ligustri (see below for synonymy)P93
| `--S. l. amurensis Oberthür 1886P93
|--S. belis Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. caricae Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. cassandra Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. chersisRM01
|--S. constricta Butler 1885 [=S. ligustri constricta]P93
|--S. creusa Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. culiciformis Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. drupiferarum Smith 1797P93
|--S. ello Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. ficus Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. filipendulae Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. ixion Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. labruscae Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. leucophaeata Clemens 1859 [incl. S. lanceolata Felder & Felder 1854]NS07
|--S. lineataR26
|--S. megaera Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. morio Rothschild & Jordan 1903 [=S. pinastri morio]P93
| |--S. m. morioP93
| `--S. m. arestus (Jordan 1931)P93
|--S. ocypete Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. pectinicornis Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. phegea Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. pinastri Linnaeus 1758P93 [=Hyloicus pinastriJP05]
| |--S. p. pinastri (see below for synonymy)P93
| `--S. p. maurorum (Jordan 1931) (see below for synonymy)P93
|--S. salmachus Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. statices Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. tantalus Linnaeus 1758L58
|--S. thyelia Linnaeus 1758L58
`--S. vitis Linnaeus 1758L58
Sphinx Linnaeus 1758RM01, P93 [incl. Gargantua Kirby 1892P93, Herse Agassiz 1846P93, Hyloicus Hübner 1819P93, Lethia Hübner 1819P93, Lintneria Butler 1876P93, Mesosphinx Cockerell 1920P93, Spectrum Scopoli 1777P93; Sphingina]
*Sphinx ligustri ligustri Linnaeus 1758 [incl. S. ligustri ligustri f. albescens, S. ligustri eichleri Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt 1992, S. ligustri ligustri f. grisea, S. ligustri ligustri f. lutescens, S. ligustri nisseni Rothschild & Jordan 1916, S. spiraeae Esper 1806, S. ligustri weryi Rungs 1977]P93
Sphinx pinastri pinastri Linnaeus 1758 [incl. S. pinastri pinastri f. albescens non S. ligustri f. albescens, Hyloicus asiaticus Butler 1876, S. pinastri pinastri f. brunnea, H. pinastri cenisius Jordan 1931, H. pinastri euxinus Derzhavets 1979, H. pinastri medialis Jordan 1931, Sphinx piceae Gleditsch 1775 P93, S. saniptri Stricker 1876, S. pinastri pinastri f. semilugens]P93
Sphinx pinastri maurorum (Jordan 1931) [=Hyloicus pinastri maurorum; incl. H. pinastri massiliensis Jordan 1931]P93
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[AJ05] Abang, F., & A. M. Jackson. 2005. A list of hawk-moths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from Gunung Murud, Sarawak. Serangga 10 (1–2): 127–132.
[DS73] Dickens, M., & E. Storey. 1973. The World of Moths. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.: New York.
[JP05] Jungmann, E., & U. Poller. 2005. Neunachweise und Wiederfunde für die Schmetterlingsfauna (Insecta; Lepidoptera) des Altenburger Landes. Mauritiana 19 (2): 317–326.
[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis revised 10th ed. vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.
[NS07] Nässig, W. A., & W. Speidel. 2007. On the authorships of the Lepidoptera Atlas of the “Reise der Novara”, with a list of the taxa of Bombycoidea [s. l.] therein described (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea). Senckenbergiana Biologica 87 (1): 63–74.
[P93] Pittaway, A. R. 1993. The Hawkmoths of the Western Palaearctic. Harley Books: Colchester.
[RM01] Regier, J. C., C. Mitter, T. P. Friedlander & R. S. Peigler. 2001. Re: phylogenetic relationships in Sphingidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera): initial evidence from two nuclear genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20 (2): 311–316.
[R26] Risso, A. 1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes vol. 5. F.-G. Levrault: Paris.