Hyles robertsi

Rafi, Muhammad Ather, Sultan, Amir, Kitching, Ian J., Pittaway, Anthony R., Markhasiov, Maxim, Khan, Muhammad Rafique & Naz, Falak, 2014, The Hawkmoth Fauna of Pakistan (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), Zootaxa 3794 (3), pp. 393-418 : 408

H. robertsi subsp. elisabethae Ebert, 1996

Plate 3, Fig. 54

Material examined. PAKISTAN, [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,] Chitral, v. 1979 ( BMNH); [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] “ NW-Frontier”, Indus Valley, Barseen, 850m, iv. 1999 ( CRBP).

Remarks. Hyles robertsi subsp. elisabethae was also recorded in Pakistan from Rawalpindi in the Punjab (as Hyles euphorbiae ) by Mohyuddin ( 1987). Collectively, the three currently recognized subspecies of Hyles robertsi are found in Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northern and western Pakistan Danner et al., ( 1998); (Pittaway, 2013). However, the status of these subspecies is far from clear. Analysis of DNA sequence data by Hundsdoerfer et al. ( 2011) suggests that the populations in SE Iran, SE Afghanistan and SW Pakistan (the present H. robertsi subsp. robertsi ), may be a good species, whereas those from elsewhere in Iran and Turkmenistan ( H. robertsi subsp. peplidis (Christoph, 1894)), and in NE Afghanistan and northern Pakistan ( H. robertsi subsp. elisabethae), may be hybrid populations with H. euphorbiae subsp. euphorbiae or other species of Hyles . Further detailed studies of DNA sequences, adult and immature stage morphology, and biology, are needed to resolve these issues.