Aellopos tantalus zonata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hodecek, Jiri & Haxaire, Jean, 2025, A revised and annotated checklist of the hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of the Dominican Republic, with new records and distribution maps of chosen species, Zootaxa 5701 (4), pp. 401-427 : 419

Aellopos tantalus zonata (Linnaeus, 1758) NEW RECORD ( Fig 6. B, D )

General distribution. Mexico to Paraguay including the West Indies.

Distribution in the DR. La Altagracia, Puerto Plata, Valverde, San Juan, Samana ( Fig 2. C ).

Habitat. The species flies in open environment at lower elevations of the coastal region. It is a diurnal species, like all species of the genus Aellopos .

Host plants. The larva of the nominotypical subspecies feeds on Rubiaceae and Combretaceae . The same is probably true for subspecies zonata.

Material examined.

Haxaire: Las Terrenas, Samana: 6/1981, 1 ♀, leg. S. S. Nicolaij.

Remarks. This taxon was misidentified as A. clavipes by Haxaire (2016) based on a single female. After re-examining the specimen, both authors agreed that it indeed is a female of A. tantalus zonata . Five more observations from iNaturalist confirm the presence of A. tantalus zonata on the island (https://www.inaturalist. org/observations?place_id=6931&taxon_id=155365).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distributions of selected species of Sphingidae in the Dominican Republic.

FIGURE 6. The two Aellopos species recorded from the Dominican Republic: A) The only known collected specimen of Aellopos blaini from the Dominican Republic (McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity collection), B) Specimen of Aellopos tantalus zonata (Jean Haxaire collection), C) The only known photograph of Aellopos blaini from the Dominican Republic, D) Aellopos tantalus zonata. Photographs by Jean Haxaire (A, B), Luke Berg (C, https://www.inaturalist.org/ observations/259893174) and yeribel_duran (D, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99512410).