Ambulyx Westwood, 1847

Spitsyn, Vitaly M., Bolotov, Ivan N. & Spitsyna, Elizaveta A., 2023, Ambulyx labuanensis sp. nov. from Flores Island, Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 67, pp. 117-120 : 118-119

Genus Ambulyx Westwood, 1847

Type species: Sphinx substrigilis Westwood, 1847

Ambulyx labuanensis sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2B0AA2E1-0629-4E95-803E-26141B0158F2

Figs 1−2

Type material. Holotype male RMBH Sph 1072: INDONESIA, East Nusa Tenggara, Flores Island, Labuan Bajo, garden and natural grassland on the sea coast, 8º31'21"S, 119º52'16"E, altitude 7 m, 13-20 January 2015, 1♂, Bolotov leg.; paratypes RMBH Sph 0575, Sph 1073, Sph 1074: INDONESIA, East Nusa Tenggara, Flores Island: Sano Ngoang Lake , geothermal site, primary mountain rainforest, 8º43'01"S, 120º00'10"E, altitude 650 m, 23 January 2015, 1♂, 1♀, Bolotov leg.; Borong, dry monsoon forest and banana plantations, 8º49'05"S, 120º37'33"E, altitude 90 m, 24-27 January 2020, 1♀, V. Spitsyn & E. Spitsyna leg.

Diagnosis. The new species is similar to Ambulyx moorei Moore, 1858 ( India and China to the

Philippines and Java), Ambulyx amboynensis Rothschild, 1894 ( Moluccas), A. bakeri (Clark, 1929) (the Philippines), A. celebensis ( Jordan, 1919) (Sulawesi and Moluccas), A. dohertyi Rothschild, 1894 (New Guinea and Australia), and A. semifervens (Walker, 1865) ( Moluccas). However, it could be distinguished from these species by having two large saccular processes on the valva (vs one saccular process in A. moorei (see Fig. 2 ) or the lack of this process in other similar species).

Description. Male morphology: Wingspan 84-91 mm, forewing length 41-45 mm. Eye olive-brown. Antenna relatively thin. Head green, frons white-gray-pink. Labial palpus large, ochraceous, with a whitegray-olive apical part. Thorax gray-brown, with two green spots at the base of hindwings. Patagium gray-brown, tegula gray-brown, with a green band having a white fore margin. Legs ochraceous, the inner side of tibia and tarsus green-ochraceous, their outer side white. Forewing upperside brown, with vertical wavy lines; marginal line light, slightly curved; discal spot rounded, small, with a black margin; basal spots green, with a white margin. Forewing underside ochraceous, marginal area white-gray. Hindwing upperside yellowish-brown, with a relatively straight medial line, a toothed postmedial line, and a strongly elongated anal apex. Hindwing underside ochraceous, with a dark marginal area. Abdomen brown dorsally, with two green spots having a white margin, and ochraceous ventrally. Male genitalia: Tegumen broad. Uncus large, strongly sclerotized. Valva slightly elongated, rounded apically, with two large saccular processes; harpe with a massive flat apex. Aedeagus straight; vesica with two thorn-like plates. Female: Wingspan 95-97 mm, forewing length 48-50 mm. The female is externally similar to male but it is darker and its forewings much wider.

Distribution. Flores Island, Indonesia.

Etymology. The name of this species is derived from the type locality.

Figures

Figure 1. Ambulyx spp.: A-B) A. moorei Moore, 1858, Vietnam; C-F) A. labuanensis sp. nov., Flores Island, Indonesia: C-D) holotype male; E-F) paratype female. Photos: Elizaveta A. Spitsyna.

Figure 2. Male genitalia of Ambulyx spp.: A) A. moorei Moore, 1858, Vietnam; B) A. labuanensis sp. nov., Flores Island, Indonesia (holotype). Photos: Elizaveta A. Spitsyna.