SYNTYPES "In Jasmino Europæ; Ægypti duplo major & Indiae" [LSL]. Four specimens are curated as Sphinx atropos in the collection of the Linnean Society of London (determined by examination of a bound set of monochrome photographs in the Library of the NHMUK). These specimens were then in drawer 112 but have now been recurated into plastazote-bottomed boxes. One moth, a male, bears a label attached by Sir James Edward Smith and perhaps also a Linnaean label, and is most probably a syntype. The second specimen, a female, is set in the modern style and was certainly acquired by Linnaeus subsequent to publication of the original description. The remaining two moths, both apparently without labels, are specimens of Acherontia styx. It is unclear whether these specimens are syntypes.
Taxonomic Notes:
Transferred to Acherontia by [Laspeyres], 1809, Jena. allg. Lit.-Ztg 4 (240): 100.
Nomenclature notes:
This name can also be used in a varietal sense for the form in which the forewings are uniform blackish-brown, with indistinct transverse markings and obsolete pale markings.
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical):
Ed Baker,
Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith
