Taxonomic notes and new records of the genus Sphingonaepiopsis Wallengren, 1858 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in Iran
Author
Kitching, Ian J.
Author
Zahiri, Reza
text
Zootaxa
2007
1610
41
52
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.178914
bff2de78-379d-4a5f-a93a-d0c2d7b5c3c7
1175-5326
178914
Sphingonaepiopsis
Wallengren, 1858
Sphingonaepiopsis
Wallengren, 1858
,
Oefvers. K. VetenskAkad. Foerh. Stockh.
15: 138.
Type
species:
Sphingonaepiopsis gracilipes
Wallengren, 1858
, by original designation.
The genus
Sphingonaepiopsis
comprises some of the smallest of all hawkmoths, with wingspans of
25–35 mm
. There are currently seven recognized species (
Kitching & Cadiou 2000
), distributed throughout the Old World.
S. gorgoniades
and
S. kuldjaensis
(Graeser 1892)
have Palaearctic distributions; the former has been recorded from SE Europe, east to the southern Urals,
Afghanistan
and NE
Tajikistan
(possibly reaching as far as Eastern Siberia, see below), and the latter is restricted to the mountains of Central Asia, from NE
Afghanistan
, through the Tian Shan, to eastern
Kazakhstan
and NW
China
.
S. ansorgei
Rothschild 1904
and
S. nana
are Afrotropical; the former is restricted to East Africa (from
Kenya
and
Uganda
to
South Africa
), and the latter occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa, also in the Arabian Peninsula, and is here confirmed for the first time from
Iran
(see below).
S. malgassica
Clark 1929
and
S. obscurus
(Mabille 1880)
are endemic to
Madagascar
, the former restricted to the south of the island, the latter found throughout (
Griveaud 1959
). Finally,
S. pumilio
(
Boisduval [1875]
) is SE Asian, occurring from NE
India
, through
Burma
and
Thailand
, to Peninsular
Malaysia
and
Singapore
, with populations also in eastern and south-eastern
China
.