One of the two most common species of hawkmoth found at REGUA is Xylophanes porcus continentalis which is found from Central America to southern Brazil. At least that is what we thought until a new paper was recently published in the European Entomologist by Jean Haxaire and Carlos Mielke. Their paper describes two new species that occur in south and south-east Brazil, and suggests that the entire X. porcus family needs further investigation.

The species at REGUA is not X. p. continentalis but X. soaresi, named after Alexandre Soares of the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and a co-author of A Guide to the Hawkmoths of the Serra dos Orgaos, South-eastern Brazil, which was published in 2011.

The second species which also occurs in the REGUA area, X. alineae, is smaller, less well-marked and has more rounded wings, and is generally found at higher altitudes.

A review of all the photos taken at REGUA and surrounding areas shows that all but one of our records (photographed in October 2016) was X. soaresi, but we need to look much harder in the future!