Moths of REGUA

There is a huge diversity of moths found at REGUA, most of which remain unidentified. Over the last few years we have been photographing and cataloguing them in order to build a comprehensive database of the species present and their flight-times. Progress is hampered by the lack of any field guides, however we are slowly building a comprehensive image library of the species present.

Click here for photos of unidentifed moths.

Hawkmoths

Since September 2004 a few visitors have been photographing the larger moths that have been attracted by a mercury-vapour lamp either set outside the Lodge or near the office. Whilst most of these moths remain unidentified, many of the hawkmoths can be named by reference to the excellent book Sphingidae Mundi by Bernard D'Abrera and to various websites (esp. www.silkmoths.bizland.com/SphBrazil.htm).

It is thought that about 214 hawkmoth species occur in Brazil, of which at least 100 occur in the Mata Atlântica region. To date we have identified and photographed 33 species, all of which are listed and illustrated below. There is no doubt that this list will grow as our identification skills improve, observations are made throughout the year and attempts are made at catching moths at higher altitudes and in different habitats.

Particular thanks are due to Dr Chris Perrins, Dr John Feltwell and Kevin Thornton who have submitted photos for identification, and to Dr Alexandre Soares from the Museu Nacional - UFRJ who has helped with the identification of the trickier species. We are keen to build a comprehensive database of the species occurring at REGUA and their flight-times, so if you have any photos that you would like identified, or you have records to submit then please send them to Alan Martin at alanmart@globalnet.co.uk.

Click on a photo below to enlarge.

Family: Sphingidae (Hawkmoths)


1. Agrius cingulatus	2. Cocytius duponchel	3. Neococytius cluentius	4. Manduca diffisa petuniae	5. Manduca leucospila

6. Manduca lucetius lucetius	7. Manduca rustica rustica	8. Protambulyx astygonus	9. Adhemarius gannascus gannascus	10. Adhemarius palmeri

11. Psudosphinx tetrio	12. Isognathus australis	13. Isognathus swainsoni	14. Erinnyis alope alope	15. Errinnyis crameri

16a. Erinnyis ello ello	16b. Erinnyis ello ello	17. Pachylia ficus	18. Pachylioides resumens	19. Madoryx pluto pluto

20. Callionima falcifera	21. Callionima inuus	22. Callionima nomius	23. Aleron iphis	24. Enyo lugubris lugubris

25. Enyo ocepete	26. Nycerx riscus	27. Eumorpha obliqua orientalis	28. Xylophanes anubus anubus	29. Xylophanes chiron nechus

30. Xylophanes hydrata	31. Xylophanes loelia	32. Xylophanes porcus continentalis	33. Xylophanes tersa

List updated April 2008

Family: Sphingidae (Hawkmoths)		Photo
Agrius cingulatus	Fabricius, 1775	1
Cocytius duponchel	Poey, 1832	2
Neococytius cluentius	Cramer, 1775	3
Manduca diffisa petuniae	Boisduval, 1875	4
Manduca leucospila	Rothschild & Jordan, 1903	5
Manduca lucetius lucetius	Cramer, 1780	6
Manduca rustica rustica	Fabricius, 1775	7
Protambulyx astygonus	Boisduval, 1875	8
Adhemarius gannascus gannascus	Stoll, 1790	9
Adhemarius palmeri	Boisduval, 1875	10
Psudosphinx tetrio	Linne, 1771	11
Isognathus australis	B P Clark, 1917	12
Isognathus swainsoni	C Felder, 1862	13
Erinnyis alope alope	Drury, 1770	14
Errinnyis crameri	Schaus, 1898	15
Erinnyis ello ello	Linne, 1758	16a, 16b
Pachylia ficus	Linne, 1758	17
Pachylioides resumens	Walker, 1856	18
Madoryx pluto pluto	Cramer, 1779	19
Callionima falcifera	Gehlen, 1943	20
Callionima inuus	Rothschild & Jordan, 1903	21
Callionima nomius	Walker, 1856	22
Aleron iphis	Walker, 1856	23
Enyo lugubris lugubris	Linne, 1771	24
Enyo ocepete	Linne, 1758	25
Nycerx riscus	Schaus, 1890	26
Eumorpha obliqua orientalis	Daniel, 1949	27
Xylophanes anubus anubus	Cramer, 1777	28
Xylophanes chiron nechus	Cramer, 1777	29
Xylophanes hydrata	Rothschild & Jordan, 1903	30
Xylophanes loelia	Druce, 1878	31
Xylophanes porcus continentalis	Rothschild & Jordan, 1903	32
Xylophanes tersa	Linne, 1771	33