@article {22368, title = {A new taxonomic status for Darwin{\textquoteright}s "predicted" pollinator: Xanthopan praedicta stat. nov. (Lepidoptera Sphingidae Sphinginae)}, journal = {Antenor}, volume = {8}, year = {2021}, month = {09/2021}, pages = {69-86}, chapter = {69}, abstract = {

\"The taxonomic status of the famous Malagasy hawkmoth known as \“Darwin\’s Moth\” or \“Wallace\’s Sphinx Moth\” is revised after a thorough integrative study combining comparative analyses of morphological characters (\"habitus\", genitalia, proboscis length, etc.) and molecular data (DNA barcoding essentially). While the existence of this long-tongued, large moth in Madagascar had been predicted by Charles DARWIN (in 1862), who considered such insect as the probable pollinator of the endemic, long-spurred orchid Angraecum sesquipedale Thouars, 1822, the discovery and description of this moth occurred about two decades after Darwin\’s death. it was named praedicta by Lord Walter ROTHSCHILD and Karl JORDAN, in 1903, in reference to Alfred Russel WALLACE\&$\#$39;\’s prediction (in 1867, about a hawkmoth pollinator) and has always been regarded, until now, as a subspecies of Xanthopan morganii (Walker, 1856), a species known to occur in the continental afrotropical region (remarkably, the hawkmoth species envisioned by WALLACE to be a possible close relative of the hypothetical pollinator of A. sesquipedale). We propose to raise the taxon praedicta to species rank on account of several clear-cut morphological differences and a high genetic divergence (ca. 7.8 \% for the DNA barcode) with the African and Comorian taxon X. morganii. Delimiting species with such criteria is indeed presently considered an appropriate method in the case of allopatric taxa (within the framework of the Biological Species Concept). Our work reveals that the proboscides of Xanthopan morganii and Xanthopan praedicta differ significantly in average length (with a difference of ca. 6.6 cm), suggesting a probable adaptation to different sets of visited flower species.\"

}, keywords = {ADULT MORPHOLOGY, AFRICA, ANGRAECUM, BARCODING, CATALOGUE, COI, COMORO ISLANDS, DNA, FEMALE GENITALIA, MADAGASCAR, MALE GENITALIA, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, PROBOSCIS, SPECIES CONCEPTS, SPECIES DELIMITATION, SPHINGIDAE, WING LENGTH, XANTHOPAN}, issn = {2275-9298}, author = {Minet, J. and Basquin, P. and Haxaire, J. and Lees, D.C. and Rougerie, R.} } @article {21966, title = {Adhemarius eurysthenes (Felder, 1874) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) in the Atlantic Rain Forest: A phylogeographic perspective}, journal = {Zoologischer Anzeiger}, volume = {277}, year = {2018}, pages = {231-241}, chapter = {231}, abstract = {

\"The Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest biome has been strongly impacted by human action and by various factors related to economic development. The hawkmoth Adhemarius eurysthenes (Sphingidae, Smerinthinae, Ambulycini) is endemic to the southern portion of this biome, with most of its existing populations within Brazil. Using CAD, wingless, and the barcode region of the mitochondrial COI gene, populations of A. eurysthenes were analyzed phylogeographically to obtain information on their genetic structure and variability, and to explain their spatial distribution. We obtained 14 COI haplotypes of 109 individuals from 10 localities. The population in the state of Esp\írito Santo, southeastern Brazil, showed the highest average genetic distance in relation to other populations. A test of molecular variance using the spatial component (SAMOVA) separated the samples into two groups; again, Esp\írito Santo was the divergent site. We found no significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances, but did find a tendency toward genetic isolation near the northern limit of the range of A. eurysthenes. We discuss the implementation of the observed patterns for other taxa, in an attempt to support studies on the conservation of Ambulycini in the Atlantic Rain Forest. Esp\írito Santo proved to be a locality of particular importance for conservation of the endemic Ambulycini in this biome.\"

}, keywords = {ADHEMARIUS, ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST, BRAZIL, CAD, COI, CONSERVATION, DIVERSITY, DNA, ECOLOGY, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, MTDNA, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE, WINGLESS, WORLDMAP1}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2018.10.005}, author = {Cardoso, L.W. and Silva-Brand{\~a}o, K.L. and Duarte, M.} } @article {21548, title = {Long-spurred Angraecum orchids and long-tongued sphingid moths on Madagascar: a time frame for Darwin{\textquoteright}s predicted Xanthopan/Angraecum coevolution}, journal = {Biological Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {122}, year = {2017}, month = {07/2017}, pages = {469-478}, chapter = {469}, abstract = {

\"Trait matching between the Madagascan orchid Angraecum sesquipedale, with a nectar spur of 33 cm, and a hawkmoth with a tongue almost as long has fascinated biologists since Darwin, who saw only flowers but correctly predicted the moth pollinator. This moth, Xanthopan morgani praedicta, was described from museum specimens in 1903 and documented as the pollinator in photographs and film in 1992 and 2004. However, Madagascar harbours c. 30 species of long-spurred orchids and seven species of long-tongued hawkmoths, and mutualisms between moths and \‘Angraecum and other deep tubular flowers\’ (Darwin, 1862: p. 202) probably involve a network of interacting species. We infer the evolutionary time over which Madagascan sphingids and Angraecum have interacted, based on an orchid phylogeny that includes 62 of 144 Angraecum species on Madagascar and a moth phylogeny with all nine Madagascan Sphinginae. Clock models using either rate- or fossil-based calibrations imply that the Madagascan subspecies X. morgani praedicta and the African morgani diverged 7.4 \± 2.8 Mya, which overlaps the divergence of An. sesquipedale from its sister, Angraecum sororium, namely 7.5 \± 5.2 Mya; since both have extremely long spurs, long spurs probably existed before that. The phylogenies moreover show that several long-tongued moths and long-spurred orchids probably coevolved on Madagascar since the mid-Miocene, although field data on the moths\’ levels of polyphagy and pollen transport are lacking.\"

}, keywords = {ANGRAECUM, CAD, COEVOLUTION, COI, DARWIN, DDC, EF-1ALPHA, EVOLUTION, MADAGASCAR, MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD, MOLECULAR CLOCK, ORCHIDACEAE, PHYLOGENY, POLLINATION, PROBOSCIS, SPHINGIDAE, WINGLESS}, doi = {10.1093/biolinnean/blx086}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx086}, author = {Netz, C. and Renner, S.S.} }