Agrius cingulata, the pink-spotted hawkmoth or sweetpotato hornworm, is a moth in the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Agrius cingulata has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens170
BINs1
Marker genes1
eDNA detections164
Countries16
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P658 bp consensus156 specimens
ACGT
▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies
Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 100% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 3 variable positions, in barcode order
Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.
Diversity (π)0.19%
Haplotypes17
BIN1
Most divergent pair0.76%
N.AmericaS.AmericaAfrica
Closest relatives by DNA barcode
The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P
animal barcode
06Genome at a glanceGoaT
The complete instruction manualAgrius cingulata carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size469 440 000 bp
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
THIS GENOME Agrius cingulata0.47 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
07Deep time~11.5 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin11.5 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type6 630 records
Wild obs. + sensor5 489
Museum / vouchered1 071
Other70
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO17 520 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy81% within 1 km
≤100 m 3 102≤1 km 667≤10 km 378>10 km 487
4 634 georeferenced · 855 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor5 489
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy43% within 1 km
≤100 m 174≤1 km 57≤10 km 247>10 km 62
540 georeferenced · 531 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 071
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions28 of 60 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
307
New Haven, US
127
Mexico City, MX
126
ASUlocation not on record
34
Georgia Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
29
FLMNH-UFlocation not on record
25
Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Colimalocation not on record
23
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
22
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
21
East Lansing, US
19
Mississippi State, US
18
The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobagolocation not on record
18
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, OH (CLEV)location not on record
17
Colorado State Universitylocation not on record
17
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
16
San Diego, US
14
Tapachula, MX
14
UNHClocation not on record
13
South Kensington, GB
10
US
10
Blacksburg, US
9
Cambridge, US
8
Mayagüez, PR
8
St. Paul, US
8
The University of Hawaii Insect Museumlocation not on record
8
UDlocation not on record
7
Saint John, CA
7
Buenos Aires, AR
7
CUlocation not on record
7
Natural History Museum of Utahlocation not on record
7
PUC-RSlocation not on record
7
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record
6
Ciudad de México, MX
6
Area de Conservacion Guanacastelocation not on record
5
University of Alabamalocation not on record
5
Toronto, CA
5
University of Pennsylvanialocation not on record
3
Chicago, US
3
Albuquerque, US
3
Uniwersytet Jagiellońskilocation not on record
3
University of Central Floridalocation not on record
3
San Luis Potosí, MX
2
Philadelphia, US
2
Awka, NG
2
Brussels, BE
2
Tartu, EE
2
Denver, US
2
King Saud Universitylocation not on record
1
University of California, Davislocation not on record
1
OSUClocation not on record
1
Washington, US
1
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
1
University of Vienna, Dept of Botany and Biodiversity Researchlocation not on record
1
Universidad del Vallelocation not on record
1
Lubbock, US
1
US
1
University, National Zoological Collection of Surinamelocation not on record
1
Museo Argentina de Ciencias Naturaleslocation not on record
1
Universidad de Sucre (UniSucre)location not on record
1
Champaign, US
1
60 institutions · 1 030 of 1 071 vouchered records shown · 41 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA164 detections
Where the DNA of Agrius cingulata was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found164
Studies independent surveys1
Countries14
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 164 detections have coordinates
Open the map14 countries0
Forest Edge with Cerrado Grassland1. Forest & Woodland|1.6. Subtropical/Tropic…Forest
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median24.4 °C 13.2–25.7
Seasonal swing summer↔winter2.50 °C
Max temp (day)27.4 °C 16.7–28.7
Min temp (night)21.8 °C 9.60–24.0
Precipitation271 mm/mo 85.8–357
Air humidity69.1 % 62.9–73.4
Moisture balance137 mm/mo -39.4–255
Vapour deficit843 Pa 433–1,175
Wind speed3.10 m/s 1.30–3.80
Cloud cover33.8 % 26.5–49.0
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 158 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility6 630 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI164 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics170 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome ~0.47 Gbp↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗