Two new native larval host plants of Hyles annei (Guérin-Méneville, 1839) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile following exceptional summer rainfall

By

Vargas, Héctor A.
Hundsdoerfer, Anna K.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-10-17

Original Publication

Nota lepidopterologica

Volume

42

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

151--156

Subjects

Allionia incarnata , Fagonia chilensis , hawkmoth , Nyctaginaceae , Zygophyllaceae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Bonn,

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.42.37662

 

Abstract

Adults of the little-known Neotropical hawkmoth, Hyles annei (Guérin-Méneville, 1839) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae: Macroglossinae: Macroglossini), were reared from larvae collected on Allionia incarnata L. (Nyctaginaceae) and Fagonia chilensis Hook. & Arn. (Zygophyllaceae) at about 1900 m elevation in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The two plants were growing after exceptionally high summer rainfall as part of a blooming desert event. These findings provide a clear example of the ability of this hawkmoth to use ephemeral and unpredictable resources in a hyperarid environment.