Hyles euphorbiae

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 : 406

H. euphorbiae subsp. euphorbiae (Linnaeus, 1758)

Plate 3, Fig. 47

Material examined. PAKISTAN, [Islamabad,] Margalla Hills, Pir Sohawa, 33°49’N 73°08’E, 1000m, iv. 1999 ( CRBP); [Gilgit Baltistan,] Shandur Pass, 4200m; “Gilgit, road Gilgit-Chitral”, Shandur Pass, 3700-4000m, 6- 11.vii.1995 ( CRBP).

Remarks. This is the first record of this species from Pakistan. Phenotypically, these specimens agree with Hyles euphorbiae subsp. euphorbiae , but their precise identity remains to be confirmed. Hyles euphorbiae subsp. euphorbiae is found throughout southern and central Europe (except Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, and possibly southern Italy and Sicily), eastward across Russia to southwestern Siberia, the western and southern slopes of the Altai Mountains and northwestern China, then south through eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and southeastern Uzbekistan to Tajikistan and possibly northern Pakistan (Pittaway, 2013). The species was introduced into Canada and the U.S.A. as a biological control agent of weed species of Euphorbia ( Hansen, 2012) , but has not had the desired effect.