Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5701 No. 4: 6 Oct. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-10-06
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5701.4.1
Page range: 401-427
Abstract views: 123
PDF downloaded: 4

A revised and annotated checklist of the hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of the Dominican Republic, with new records and distribution maps of chosen species

Swiss Human Institute of Forensic Taphonomy; University Centre of Legal Medicine; CH-1000; Lausanne; Switzerland; Museum Cantonal des Sciences Naturelles; Palais de Rumine; Place de la Riponne 6; CH-1014; Lausanne; Switzerland
Sphingidae Museum of Czech Republic (SMCR); 261 01 Příbram; Czech Republic; “Le Roc” F. 47310 Laplume; France
Lepidoptera hawkmoth distribution West Indies Hispaniola Pachylia syces insularis Aellopos tantalus zonata iNaturalist public science

Abstract

This study presents a revised and annotated checklist of the hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of the Dominican Republic, building on extensive fieldwork from 2007 to 2024, with additional data from iNaturalist. In total, we document 51 species in 21 genera, including two species newly recorded for the country: Pachylia syces insularis and Aellopos tantalus zonata. Distribution maps are provided for selected taxa of particular conservation or biogeographic interest (e.g., endemic species). Given that certain species remain known from only a few specimens, the results underscore the significance of continued surveys. Hawkmoths play essential ecological roles as pollinators in both natural and agricultural settings, and understanding their diversity and habitat requirements is vital to safeguarding these insects and the ecosystems they support.

 

References

  1. BOLD Systems (2025) BIN Record: AAA4569. Available from: https://portal.boldsystems.org/bin/BOLD:AAA4569 (accessed 14 March 2025)
  2. Brechlin, R. & Haxaire, J. (2014) Manduca afflicta hispaniola n. ssp., eine neue Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) von Hispaniola. Entomo-Satsphingia, 7 (2), 69–71.
  3. Carcasson, R.H. & Heppner, J.B. (1996) Sphingoidea: 118. Sphingidae. In: Heppner, J.B. (Ed.), Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist 4B. Drepanoidea–Bombycoidea–Sphingoidea. Association of Tropical Lepidoptera and Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 50–60, 62.
  4. De Ketelaere, A. & Hodecek, J. (2025) A new species of Dreisbachia (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae) from the Dominican Republic. Bulletin S.R.B.E. / K.B.V.E., 161, 70–75.
  5. Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] (2020) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020: Main report. FAO, Rome, 165 pp.
  6. Háva, J. & Hodeček, J. (2023) A new species of Cryptorhopalum (Coleoptera: Dermestidae: Megatominae) from the Dominican Republic. Faunitaxys, 11 (48), 1–3.
  7. Háva, J. & Hodeček, J. (2025) Two additional new species of Cryptorhopalum (Coleoptera: Dermestidae: Megatominae) from the Dominican Republic. Faunitaxys, 13 (6), 1–5.
  8. Haxaire, J. (1993) Systématique et répartition des espèces du groupe d’Hyles lineata (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera Sphingidae). Lambillionea, 93 (2), 156–166.
  9. Haxaire, J. & Schmit, P. (2001) Un nouveau Sphingidae de République Dominicaine: Cautethia carsusi (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae). Lambillionea, 101 (4), 605–608.
  10. Haxaire, J. (2016) Les Lépidoptères Sphingidae de République Dominicaine. Liste actualisée et description de deux nouvelles espèces (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae). The European Entomologist, 8 (2), 61–78.
  11. Haxaire, J. (2024) Les Sphingidae de France. Available from: http://sphingidae-Haxaire.com/ (accessed 15 October 2024)
  12. Hodecek, J., Messer, P.W. & Bruschi, S. (2024) Calosoma peregrinator Guérin-Méneville discovered in the Dominican Republic: The fourth species of Calosoma Weber (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the West Indies. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 78 (3), 348–352. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-78.3.348
  13. Johnson, S.D., Moré, M., Amorim, F.W., Haber, W.A., Frankie, G.W., Stanley, D.A., Cocucci, A.A. & Raguso, R.A. (2016) The long and the short of it: a global analysis of hawkmoth pollination niches and interaction networks. Functional Ecology, 31 (1), 101–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12753
  14. Kitching, I.J. & Cadiou, J.-M. (2000) Hawkmoths of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary Checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Natural History Museum, London and Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 226 pp. [ISBN 0-8014-3734-2]
  15. Lingafelter, S.W., Touroult, J. & Hodecek, J. (2024) A new species of Eburia (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Eburiini) from the Dominican Republic. Faunitaxys, 12 (7), 1–7.
  16. Mengual, X., Hodecek, J., Dankowicz, Z.R. & Schusteff, A. (2025) A new species of the wasp mimic flower fly genus Monoceromyia Shannon, 1922 (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Dominican Republic. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 127 (1), 70–83. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.127.1.70
  17. Satori, M. (2021) A new species of Neohagenulus Traver, 1938 from Hispaniola (Ephemeroptera, Leptophlebiidae, Hagenulinae, Hagenulini). ZooKeys, 1070, 41–50. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1070.73484
  18. Tuttle, J.P. (2007) The Hawk Moths of North America: A Natural History Study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, Washington, D.C., 253 pp.

How to Cite

Hodecek, J. & Haxaire, J. (2025) A revised and annotated checklist of the hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of the Dominican Republic, with new records and distribution maps of chosen species. Zootaxa, 5701 (4), 401–427. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5701.4.1