Hyles robertsi

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 : 408

H. robertsi subsp. elisabethae Ebert, 1996

Plate 3, Fig. 54

Material examined. PAKISTAN, [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,] Chitral, v. 1979 ( BMNH); [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] “ NW-Frontier”, Indus Valley, Barseen, 850m, iv. 1999 ( CRBP).

Remarks. Hyles robertsi subsp. elisabethae was also recorded in Pakistan from Rawalpindi in the Punjab (as Hyles euphorbiae ) by Mohyuddin (1987). Collectively, the three currently recognized subspecies of Hyles robertsi are found in Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northern and western Pakistan Danner et al., (1998); (Pittaway, 2013). However, the status of these subspecies is far from clear. Analysis of DNA sequence data by Hundsdoerfer et al. (2011) suggests that the populations in SE Iran, SE Afghanistan and SW Pakistan (the present H. robertsi subsp. robertsi ), may be a good species, whereas those from elsewhere in Iran and Turkmenistan ( H. robertsi subsp. peplidis (Christoph, 1894)), and in NE Afghanistan and northern Pakistan ( H. robertsi subsp. elisabethae), may be hybrid populations with H. euphorbiae subsp. euphorbiae or other species of Hyles . Further detailed studies of DNA sequences, adult and immature stage morphology, and biology, are needed to resolve these issues.