Sesia axillaris Grote & Robinson, 1868: 180

Schmidt, B. Christian, 2018, Cryptic species among bumblebee mimics: an unrecognized Hemaris hawkmoth (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in eastern North America, Zootaxa 4399 (1) : -

= Sesia axillaris Grote & Robinson, 1868: 180 .

TYPE lOCAlITY: “ TEXAS (BElfRAgE)” [ HERE RESTRICTEd TO THE VICINITY Of HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA] [ FMNH].

Sesia axillaris WAS dESCRIbEd bASEd ON fOUR SYNTYPES fROm TEXAS, ORIgINATINg fROm GUSTAV WIlHElm BElfRAgE, A WEll-KNOWN SOURCE Of TEXAS INSECT SPECImENS IN THE 1860S (GEISER 1933). BElfRAgE RESIdEd IN THE HOUSTON AREA fOR SEVERAl YEARS UNTIl RElOCATINg TO BOSqUE COUNTY IN 1868 (GEISER 1933), THE SAmE YEAR THAT GROTE ANd RObINSON dESCRIbEd axillaris . IT IS UNlIKElY THAT THE SPECImENS WOUld HAVE bEEN RECEIVEd, EXAmINEd, dESCRIbEd ANd PUblISHEd bY GROTE ANd RObINSON WITHIN THE SAmE YEAR THAT GEISER mOVEd TO BOSqUE COUNTY, SO THE TYPE lOCAlITY Of axillaris IS THEREfORE mOST lIKElY THE HOUSTON AREA. THE lOCATION Of THE axillaris SYNTYPES IS NOT KNOWN, bUT THEY mAY RESIdE IN THE FMNH, AlONg WITH OTHER GROTE ANd RObINSON TYPES. Axillaris WAS dESCRIbEd bASEd ON THE fOREWINg mARgINAl bANd bEINg WIdE ANd WITH A dIffUSE, dENTATE INNER bORdER. THIS PHENOTYPE WAS SUbSEqUENTlY IllUSTRATEd bY GROTE (1874), ANd HAS lONg bEEN KNOWN TO bE PART Of THE SEASONAl VARIATION IN H. diffinis , REPRESENTINg A SUmmER fORm ( SmYTH 1900). THIS WAS AgAIN CONfIRmEd IN THIS STUdY THROUgH mTDNA, AS A SPECImEN Of THIS PHENOTYPE (DNA VOUCHER # NOC14993, APPENdIX A) SHAREd HAPlOTYPES WITH OTHER diffinis fORmS ( FIg. 1 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Molecular phylogeny of representative Hemaris diffinis-group COI ‘barcode’ haplotypes, as inferred using MaximumLikelihood and Bayesian Inference methods.Bootstrap values (500 replicates) and posterior probabilities are shown above branches. Hemaris diffinis (sensu stricto) haplotypes are represented by two clades, D1.x and D2.x, H. aethra (A.x) and H. thetis (T.x) by one clade each.