Hawkmoths of REGUA

Family: Sphingidae

There are thought to be about 230 species of hawkmoths to be found in Brazil, of which 110 have been recorded in the Serra dos Órgãos and a further 4 in Rio de Janeiro state. To date 67 species have been found at REGUA, but it is possible that almost all the 110 could occur here.

Most of the records at REGUA have been from the lodge garden or around the office area where 100 watt mercury vapour lamps are regularly used to attract a wide range of moth species. The other main source of records has been the small footbridge across the river to the nearby village of Guapiaçu, which is brightly illuminated and on misty or dark nights can be exceptional, for example on one night in August 2010 eighteen species of hawkmoth were found.

Hawkmoths can be found at all times of the year, although some have a restricted flight period and the moon phase and temperature does affect their attraction to the lights. The REGUA data is biased due to the variable recording effort across the year (the peak visitor period is between August and November) but there does also appear to be a peak flight period in March at the end of the austral winter

The fourteen most commonly occurring species are all shown below, but the recently published book Hawkmoths of the Serra dos Orgaos describes all the 110 species found in the REGUA area with identification plates and photographs of most of them. This book was produced by Alan Martin and Jorge Bizarro of REGUA in collaboration with Alexandre Soares of the Natural History Museum in Rio. Copies of the book can be obtained from NHBS or direct from Alan Martin (alanjmart@gmail.com). Since its publication some new information has become available and a few errors found, all of which are described in this addendum, along with a full list of all the species recorded at REGUA.

List of hawkmoths at REGUA (with flight times)

Download the REGUA hawkmoth list in PDF format (updated November 2011)

14 most common hawkmoths at REGUA

Click on a photo below to enlarge.


Adhemarius daphne daphne	Adhemarius gagarini	Adhemarius palmeri	Manduca diffissa petuniae	Cocytius duponchel

Enyo ocypete	Pachylia ficus	Pachylioides resumens	Pseudosphinx tetrio	Erinnyis alope alope

Erinnyis ello ello (female)	Erinnyis ello ello (male)	Xylophanes chiron nechus	Xylophanes porcus continentalis	Xylophanes tersa tersa