Xylophanes clarki Ramsden, 1921

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 : 423

Xylophanes clarki Ramsden, 1921 ( Fig 7. D )

General distribution. Venezuela, Cuba and Dominican Republic.

Distribution in the DR. Santo Domingo, Pedernales. Only 3 specimens known ( Fig 2. D ).

Habitat. All known specimens from the island have been collected at sea level in the xeric zone ( Haxaire 2016).

Material examined.

Haxaire: Pedernales, route Oviedo to Pedernales pk 40, Jaragua National Park : 17°58'05"N 71°38'38"W, 17 m, 22/02/2017, leg. J. Haxaire & Odile Paquit.

Remarks. Haxaire (2016) considered this species might be a potential hybrid between X. tersa and X. pluto . One year after publishing his work, he collected one specimen himself in Pedernales. This specimen has been DNA barcoded, and the sequence is practically identical to that of X. pluto . Further study needs to be done in order to uncover whether X. clarki is just a different form of X. pluto or indeed a hybrid in between X. pluto and X. tersa .

Figures

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

FIGURE 7. Mounted specimens of rare hawkmoths from the Dominican Republic: A) Manduca afflicta hispaniolana (Ron Brechlin collection), B) Cautethia insolita (Jean Haxaire collection), C) Perigonia desotoi (Jean Haxaire collection), D) Xylophanes clarki (Jean Haxaire collection), E) Cautethia carsusi (Jiri Hodecek collection), F) Size comparison of C. carsusi and C. noctuiformis (Jiri Hodecek collection). Photographs by Ron Brechlin (A), Jean Haxaire (B, C, D) and Jiri Hodecek (E, F).