One of the most iconic groups of moths the world over is Sphingidae or the Hawkmoths. Australia has 86 species and to date in the garden I have caught 44 of them - again to put it in perspective the UK has a total of 15-20 spp on its list including extreme rarities, I can catch 15 species a night here!
Here are a few photos of some of them...
Agrius convolvuli - a species with an extensive global distribution. In the UK this is a migratory species where as over here it i a common resident
Agrius godarti - similar to the previous species but instead of having pink on the abdomen it has off white - the hind wing is different as well
Ambulyx dohertyi - this species shows obviosu sexual dimorphism, the female is the darker specimen on top. These are a large species with a wingspan in excess of 4 inches
Amblyx wildei - the second of the two Ambulyx species that occurs here. Unlike dohertyi this is a very scarce species - I have only caught two individuals. The male is the upper of the two in the photograph
Pseudoangonyx excellens - I have only caught one individual of this species and according to a friend (who is the curator of Sphingide at the Natural History Museum in London) this is the furthest south that this species has been recorded
Angonyx papuana - not a common species but more common that the previous one. I have caught four individuals of this species since late December 2016
Cephonodes kingi - one of four Cephonodes species that occur in Australia. When freshly emerged the forewings of all Cephonodes are fully scaled but as soon as they fly the scales abrade and the wings become clear.
Daphnis moorei - a large species with a wingspan of over 4 inches; a regular visitor to the trap
Daphnis placida - the smallest of the three Daphnis species that I trap and probably the most common.
Daphnis protrudens -I have ony caught five individuals of this species, it is slightly largr than moorei
Eupanacra splendens - a scarce species at the trap
Gnathothlibus eras - one of two Gnathothlibus species that I catch, the other Gnathothlibus australiensis is only separable by the length of hairs on the front legs of the males....
Hippotion boerhaviae - a small species (wingspan just two - three inches) that is uncommon at the trap
Hippotion brennus - a reasonably common species in the garden, as with all Hippotion a small species with a wingspan of two to three inches
Hippotion celerio - another species with a very large global distribution; although I never saw it there it has been recorded from the UK and is widespread in the Mediterranean
Hippotion johanna - at one stage this was thought to be a sub species of brennus but it lacks the white line on th thorax (just behind the head). I have only caught one specimen of this species
Hippotion rosetta - a very common species at the trap and one that is similar to the much scarcer Hi.boerhaviae
Hippotion scrofa - a species that is very common further south in Australia but one that only occurs in small numbers in the garden here
Hippotion velox - the largest of the Hippotions that I catch; a regular visitor n small numbers
Hyles livornicoides - there are several species of very similar Hyles across the globe, this is the Australian version. It can turn up in huge numbers - peak count in the trap over 120 individuals
Macroglossum dohertyi - a small species with a wingspan of no more than two inches. scarce visitor to the garden - in fact only seen in Yorkeys
Macroglossum hirundo - the commonest species o Macroglossum; it never occurs in large numbers but I record it more frequently than any other species. It is highly variable, in particular the white band across the forewing varies both in width and length - at times being completely absent
Macroglossum micacea - another small species, smaller than dohertyi. It is a scarce visitor to the trap
Macroglossum nubilum - the largest of the Macroglossum that I catch, but another scarce species with only two individuals seen
Macroglossum rectans - anpther small species, almost a smaller version of hirundo. I have only caught a handful of individuals of this species
Macroglossum vacillans - the smallest and scarcest of the Macroglossum that I catch
Meganoton rufescens - by far the largest species that I catch with a wingspan of between eigth and ten inches!
Nephele subvaria - a scarce and very variable species
Psilogramma menephron - there are eight species of Psilogramma in Australia all of which are exceedingly variable and similar. This i the commonest of the two species that I catch - it is another large species with a wingspan of six to eight inches
Psilogramma papuensis - the second species of Psilogramma that I catch; another variable species but in general is smaller than menephron
Theretra celata - approx five inch wingspan
Theretra indistincta - aside from its obvious pink antennae a rather plain looking species. Interestingly I have caught two individual that do not have pink antennae and having discussed this with one of the foreost experts in Sphingidae we are wondering if this would be a new species rather than an odd form of indistincta - waiting to catch a few more and retain them before sending them to him in Paris
Theretra latreilli - one of two virtually identical species of Theretra that I catch; the other being tryoni which is separable only when the species is in the hand
Theretra margarita - another small species with a wingspan of three inches; there are two very similar species separated by the number of white lines on the abdomen - this has only one
Theretra nessus - the largest of the Theretra species with a wingspan of five to six inches. A common visitor to the trap sometimes in reasonable numbers (peak of eight in a night)
Theretra oldenlandiae - imilar to margarite but has two white lines on its abdomen. this is a common species at the trap sometimes as many as twenty a night
Theretra silhetensis - another small species (wing spand two to three inches) and one that can occur in good numbers with a peak of over thirty individuals
Theretra turneri - a scarce visitor to that trap, I have only caught eight individuals of this species
