Rothschild & Jordan, 1903, Novit. zool. 9 (suppl.): 651, erroneously considered that Lucas' description of Macroglossa lineata was a composite, with the wings being those of the present subspecies, while the abdomen was that of Macroglossum corythus pylene. As such, they considered that the name lineata could not be used for either taxon, and thus employed inusitata as the valid name for the New Guinean/Australian subspecies of Macroglossum prometheus. Moulds, 1985, Aust. ent. Mag. 12: 89, who inferred a holotype, found that Rothschild & Jordan's assessment of its composite nature was incorrect. He therefore reinstated lineata as the valid senior name. Erroneously synonymized with Macroglossum prometheus inusitata by Bridges, 1993, Cat. Fam. Gen. Spec. Sphingidae of the World: VIII.14. Reinstated as the senior name for this subspecies by Kitching & Cadiou, 2000, Hawkmoths of the world: 55.
Nomenclature notes:
Macroglossa lineata was again proposed as a new species by Lucas, 2.v.1891, Queenslander 39: 834.
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical):
Ed Baker,
Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith
