Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262696267 The Hawkmoth Fauna of Pakistan (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) Article in Zootaxa · May 2014 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3794.3.4 · Source: PubMed CITATIONS READS 11 1,764 7 authors, including: Muhammad Rafi Amir Sultan Pakistan Agricultural Research Council/National Agricultural Research Center Bio-Resources Conservation Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Paki… 101 PUBLICATIONS 500 CITATIONS 30 PUBLICATIONS 190 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Ian Kitching Tony Pittaway Natural History Museum, London Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International 196 PUBLICATIONS 7,083 CITATIONS 23 PUBLICATIONS 331 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Wasps Fauna of Pakistan View project Sphingidae of Bhutan (BOOK) View project All content following this page was uploaded by Tony Pittaway on 31 January 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Zootaxa 3794 (3): 393–418 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3794.3.4 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:933EF6C6-A5BA-4CD3-B0B1-EA4205F36A84 The Hawkmoth Fauna of Pakistan (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) MUHAMMAD ATHER RAFI1, AMIR SULTAN1,6, IAN J. KITCHING2, ANTHONY R. PITTAWAY3, MAXIM MARKHASIOV4, MUHAMMAD RAFIQUE KHAN5 & FALAK NAZ1 1 National Insect Museum, Institute of Plant and Environmental Protection, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islam- abad 45500, Pakistan. E-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. E-mail: [email protected] 3CABI, Nosworthy Way, Mongewell, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8DE, UK. E-mail: [email protected] 4 Moscow Naturalist Society, Moscow, Russia 5 Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch, Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan 6Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This study represents the first complete modern account of the Sphingidae of Pakistan and takes the form of an annotated checklist, based on several national collections and those of a number of individuals. Of the 60 species and subspecies found, 14 are new records to the fauna of Pakistan, namely Agnosia orneus, Langia zenzeroides subsp. zenzeroides, Polyp- tychus trilineatus subsp. trilineatus, Dolbina inexacta, Ambulyx sericeipennis subsp. sericeipennis, Thamnoecha uni- formis, Macroglossum belis, Macroglossum stellatarum, Cechetra scotti, Hippotion boerhaviae, Hyles euphorbiae subsp. euphorbiae, Rhagastis olivacea, Rethera brandti subsp. euteles and Theretra latreillii subsp. lucasii. Anambulyx elwesi subsp. kitchingi and Clanis deucalion subsp. thomaswitti are not recognised as valid subspecies and are synonymized with their respective nominotypical subspecies. An additional list is given of 30 taxa which may yet be found in Pakistan as they are present in neighbouring countries close to the border. Of the species/subspecies found, 24 are part of the Palae- arctic fauna, 27 are part of the Oriental fauna and nine are Palaeo-Oriental/Palaeotropical. This reconfirms the transitional biogeographical position of the Pakistan fauna. Keywords: Lepidoptera, Sphingidae, hawkmoths, Pakistan, geographical distribution, biogeography, fauna, checklist Introduction The Sphingidae of British India were monographed by Bell & Scott (1937), and this still remains the most comprehensive account for the sub-continent. However, two internet sites—Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic (Pittaway & Kitching, 2013) and Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic (Pittaway, 2013)—cover part of this region and provide additional information on the taxonomy and biology of those species of Palaearctic origin. Additionally, there are also a number of ad-hoc records of hawkmoths occurring in Pakistan, made in the main by workers conducting broader insect faunal surveys. Chaudhry et al. (1966) surveyed the forest insect fauna of Pakistan and reported Macroglossum nycteris, an unidentified Macroglossum sp., Theretra oldenlandiae and Daphnis nerii. Later, Acherontia lachesis, Clanis phalaris and Sataspes scotti were recorded by Chaudhry et al. (1970). Mohyuddin (1987) reported Acherontia lachesis, Hippotion celerio, Hyles euphorbiae, Hyles livornica (as Hyles lineata), Nephele hespera (as Nephele didyma), Theretra alecto and T. oldenlandiae. Mehmood et al., (1996) studied the hawkmoth fauna of the Punjab and reported fifteen species from thirteen genera. Although most sphingids are benign and interesting members of the fauna, some species are of economic importance, utilizing apple, pear, cherry, soybean, camphor, sugarcane, walnut, pistachio, sesame, peanut, chilli, tomato, potato, eggplant, teak, sweet potato, Jerusalem artichoke, pea, jaman, coffee, taro, tobacco, sugar-beet, buckwheat, olives and grapes as larval host plants. When larvae occur in great numbers they can cause serious damage (Fletcher, 1920; Aherkar et al., 1993). Accepted by L. Gall: 27 Feb. 2014; published: 7 May 2014 393 This annotated checklist of the Sphingidae of Pakistan is a first attempt to register all species known at present from this country, as well as indicate what other species may yet be found. Materials Most data came from specimens forming part of the National Insect Museum (NIM) at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad. Additional data were also obtained from specimens housed at the Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH, Islamabad), the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI, Rawalpindi) and the National Institute of Biotechnology (NIBGE, Faisalabad). Previously unpublished data was also collated from a number of specimens housed in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, UK (BMNH) and the Sphingidae Museum, Orlov, Czech Republic (SMCR), the private collections of Dr Ronald Brechlin, Pasewalk, Germany (CRBP) and Mark Vincent, UK (CMVUK), published records in the literature and from the unpublished checklist of Dr Klaus Staven (Staven, 2001, unpublished data). Except for those from the National Insect Museum, Islamabad, the source of specimens is indicated by appropriate acronyms in parentheses. The infra-familial classification of Kitching & Cadiou (2000) is followed here. Results Family SPHINGIDAE Latreille, [1802] Subfamily: Smerinthinae Grote & Robinson, 1865 Tribe: Smerinthini Grote & Robinson, 1865 Genus: Anambulyx Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Anambulyx elwesi (Druce, 1882) (= Anambulyx elwesi subsp. kitchingi Smetacek, 2004 syn. nov.) Plate 1, Fig. 1 Material examined. PAKISTAN, [Azad Jammu and Kashmir,] Rawalakot, 24. vii. 2000, Abdul Wahab; as previous except, 2001, Zahid. Remarks. Smetacek (2004) described the population of A. elwesi in Uttaranchal, India, as a separate subspecies, Anambulyx elwesi subsp. kitchingi. He noted that many Lepidoptera, including species of Sphingidae (but especially the Smerinthinae) found along the southern slopes of the Himalaya are generally slightly smaller and paler at the drier northwestern end of their distributions in NW India and northern Pakistan compared to more eastern populations, that this change is clinal (Kitching & Cadiou, 2000), and that the situation in A. elwesi was another case of this phenomenon. However, Smetacek (2004: 275) also noted that “the dark dorsal triangular mark on the thorax contrasting with the paler greyish-brown of the sides and the paler abdomen easily distinguish ssp. kitchingi from ssp. elwesi, which has a uniform dark thorax and a similar dark abdomen”. However, Peter Smetacek (pers. comm. to IJK, 10.xii.2013) now accepts that the presence of a dark thorax flanked by paler grey tegulae is normal throughout the entire range of the species and that he was misled by both the description in Bell & Scott (1937), which incorrectly states “head, thorax and abdomen brown”, and the specimen illustrated in D’Abrera (1987), which appears to have an entirely dark thorax. However, close examination of this specimen from the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India, shows that the tegulae are nevertheless still slightly paler than the dorsum of the thorax. Examination of the long series of specimens in the BMNH demonstrates that although all specimens do indeed have this character, it is more obvious in paler moths and quite obscure in the darkest. Thus, we do not consider that A. elwesi subsp. kitchingi warrants recognition as a separate subspecies and therefore synonymize it with the nominotypical subspecies. Anambulyx elwesi is known from northern Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, southwestern China, Myanmar, northern Thailand and northern Vietnam (Pittaway & Kitching, 2013). 394 · Zootaxa 3794 (3) © 2014 Magnolia Press RAFI ET AL. Genus: Callambulyx Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Callambulyx poecilus (Rothschild, 1898) Plate 1, Fig. 2 Remarks. This species was described from a single specimen from the Murree Hills in the northern Punjab (Pakistan), which remains the only known example from Pakistan. This species is also found in Nepal and India (Sikkim and Meghalaya) (Brechlin & Kitching, 2012). The populations in southwestern China (Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan Island), northern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and northern Sumatra are now considered to belong to a separate species, Callambulyx diehli Brechlin & Kitching, 2012. Genus: Agnosia