Anambulyx elwesi (Druce, 1882)

Rafi, Muhammad Ather, Sultan, Amir, Kitching, Ian J., Pittaway, Anthony R., Markhasiov, Maxim, Khan, Muhammad Rafique & Naz, Falak, 2014, The Hawkmoth Fauna of Pakistan (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), Zootaxa 3794 (3), pp. 393-418 : 394

Anambulyx elwesi (Druce, 1882)

(= Anambulyx elwesi subsp. kitchingi Smetacek, 2004 syn. nov.) Plate 1, Fig. 1

Material examined. PAKISTAN, [Azad Jammu and Kashmir,] Rawalakot, 24. vii. 2000, Abdul Wahab; as previous except, 2001, Zahid.

Remarks. Smetacek (2004) described the population of A. elwesi in Uttaranchal, India, as a separate subspecies, Anambulyx elwesi subsp. kitchingi. He noted that many Lepidoptera , including species of Sphingidae (but especially the Smerinthinae ) found along the southern slopes of the Himalaya are generally slightly smaller and paler at the drier northwestern end of their distributions in NW India and northern Pakistan compared to more eastern populations, that this change is clinal ( Kitching & Cadiou, 2000), and that the situation in A. elwesi was another case of this phenomenon. However, Smetacek (2004: 275) also noted that “the dark dorsal triangular mark on the thorax contrasting with the paler greyish-brown of the sides and the paler abdomen easily distinguish ssp. kitchingi from ssp. elwesi , which has a uniform dark thorax and a similar dark abdomen”. However, Peter Smetacek (pers. comm. to IJK, 10.xii.2013) now accepts that the presence of a dark thorax flanked by paler grey tegulae is normal throughout the entire range of the species and that he was misled by both the description in Bell & Scott (1937), which incorrectly states “head, thorax and abdomen brown”, and the specimen illustrated in D’Abrera (1987), which appears to have an entirely dark thorax. However, close examination of this specimen from the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India, shows that the tegulae are nevertheless still slightly paler than the dorsum of the thorax. Examination of the long series of specimens in the BMNH demonstrates that although all specimens do indeed have this character, it is more obvious in paler moths and quite obscure in the darkest. Thus, we do not consider that A. elwesi subsp. kitchingi warrants recognition as a separate subspecies and therefore synonymize it with the nominotypical subspecies. Anambulyx elwesi is known from northern Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, southwestern China, Myanmar, northern Thailand and northern Vietnam ( Pittaway & Kitching, 2013).