Sphingidae (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea) assemblage inthe State Ecological Station of Wenceslau Guimarães,Bahia, Brazil

ABSTRACT

The diversity of hawkmoths (Lepidoptera Sphingidae) is poorly known in the biomes of the Bahia state. However, studies were carried out in other states of the northeastern region with species inventories in the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Cerrado. In order to broaden the knowledge on of the richness and diversity of hawkmoths in the Atlantic Forest of the state of Bahia, six monthly sampling sessions were carried out in the State Ecological Station of Wenceslau Guimarães. Hawkmoths were captured using a 250-watt mercury-vapor light trap set against a white cloth panel, for two nights a month, between 600 p.m. and 600 a.m. A total of 266 specimens were collected, distributed across 17 genera and 41 species. The most abundant and dominant species were Isognathus swainsoniC. Felder, 1862, with a relative abundance of 12.41%, and Xylophanes amadis(Cramer, 1782) andXylophanes anubus(Cramer, 1777), both with 7.9%. Our study represents the second inventory of hawkmoths for the state, totaling 59 species known for the Atlantic Forest of Bahia. Isognathus excelsior(Boisduval, [1875]) and Manduca lucetius(Cramer, 1780) represented new records for the biome. The accumulated number of species indicates the need for further sampling in order to safely reach the curve asymptote.