Pachylia syces insularis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903

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 : 412

Pachylia syces insularis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 NEW RECORD ( Fig 4. D )

General distribution. Jamaica and Hispaniola.

Distribution in the DR. Santo Domingo (including Distrito Nacional), San Cristobal, Santiago, San Pedros de Macoris, La Altagracia ( Fig 1. E ).

Habitat. Mostly coastal areas of the DR. A rarely observed insect, which is probably related to its lucifuge character. It is much easier to observe foraging at flowers at dusk than at UV lamps.

Host plants. Moraceae .

Remarks. This is a new record for the country reported here for the first time based on 15 observations (confirmed by the first author) on iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6931&taxon_id=257314). The species has the same forewing upperside pattern as Pachylia syces insularis from Jamaica ( Fig 4. D ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distributions of selected species of Sphingidae in the Dominican Republic.

FIGURE 4. Photographs of some of the hawkmoths recorded from the Dominican Republic:A) Lintneria tricolor, B) Callionima calliomenae,C)Cautethianoctuiformis,D) Pachyliasyces insularis,E)Eumorphastrenua,F)Xylophanesrhodocera. Photographs by Jiri Hodecek (B, E), Jean Haxaire (A, C, F) and josstory (D, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/19799563).