Clanis deucalion (Walker, 1856)

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 : 395-396

Clanis deucalion (Walker, 1856)

(= Clanis deucalion subsp. thomaswitti Eitschberger & Ihle, 2013 syn. nov.) Plate 1, Fig. 5

Material examined. PAKISTAN, [Azad Jammu and Kashmir,] Rawalakot, 7. vii. 2006, M. Rafique Khan; [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,] Nathiagali [Nathia Gali], 16. vi.–1. viii. 1979, J. Weiss ( BMNH); [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,] SW-Himalaya, Indus-Kohistan, Kaghan-Tal, Shinu, 1800 m, 2. vi. 1977, [J. J.] de Freina ( BMNH).

Remarks. Mehmood et al. (1996) reported this species from Murree in Pakistan. Recently, Eitschberger & Ihle (2013) described Clanis deucalion subsp. thomaswitti based on nine males and three females from several localities in the Kaghan Valley (Tathabaya, 8 km E of Kawai) and near Nathia Gali (Ayubia and Barangali), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, deposited in the Thomas Witt Museum, Munich, Germany. The subspecies was said to be immediately distinguishable by the pale sandy-beige ground colour, rather than the darker reddish-brown of moths from further east, particularly Nepal. Because of this pale coloration, the transverse bands on the upperside of the wings, particularly the forewings, were blurred and less distinct. Eitschberger & Ihle then immediately undermined their own claim for this to be diagnostic by noting that many specimens of the nominotypical subspecies also had similarly blurred and less distinct forewing patterns. They then asserted that the female illustrated by D’Abrera (1987: 65) could immediately be assigned to the new subspecies from Pakistan on the basis of colour, but they could not be entirely sure as D’Abrera did not give the locality of this moth. We have examined this specimen in the BMNH and it is not from Pakistan, but from Simla [Shimla] in Himachal Pradesh, India, collected by Lt. Col. Scott in June 1933, and so should unequivocally be the nominotypical subspecies. The two specimens from Pakistan in the BMNH (see Material Examined) are certainly the palest, but moths from Uttarakhand (Dehradun; Nainital) and Himachal Pradesh (Shimla) are only slightly darker. The darkest and most contrastingly patterned moths come from the Kathmandu Valley and eastern Nepal, but even here there are paler specimens. So the gradation in colour and pattern in Clanis deucalion is clearly another instance of moths from the drier northwest of the Himalaya being paler and less contrastingly marked than those from wetter areas further east (see Anambulyx elwesi above).

Eitschberger & Ihle (2013) noted several small differences in the male and female genitalia between Clanis deucalion from Pakistan and those from further east (mostly eastern Nepal). However, even they admitted that the genitalia of Clanis species in general are quite variable in all structures. Consequently, the small differences they described (including the degree of development of the pair of setae on the underside of the tegumen (incorrectly stated to be the “juxta-segment” by Eitschberger & Ihle)) are all well within the range of individual variation for the species.

In summary, we do not consider that C. deucalion subsp. thomaswitti warrants recognition as a separate subspecies and therefore synonymize it with the nominotypical subspecies.

Clanis deucalion ranges from northern Pakistan, through northwestern India to Nepal, and possibly Sikkim and Xizang/Tibet, China. Records from elsewhere are misidentifications of C. bilineata and/or C. undulosa .