Synonymized with Macroglossum haslami as a subspecies by Kitching and Rougerie et al., 2018, Biodivers. Data J. 6: e22236.
As noted by Eitschberger (2010: 156), in the original description of Macroglossum malitum, it was only compared with Macroglossum faro [leytensis] and Macroglossum passalus. Consequently, its close relationship with Macroglossum haslami haslami and Macroglossum haslami kishidai was overlooked. The habitus and genital morphology of Macroglossum malitum agree with these latter two taxa, although the apical phallus process and two cornuti are even shorter than those of Macroglossum haslami kishidai, with the latter being apically bluntly rounded. There are currently (02/06/2016) DNA barcode sequences in BoLD only for Macroglossum haslami kishidai and so no conclusions can be reached on the status of Macroglossum malitum from this data source. However, given the close morphological similarity of Macroglossum malitum to both Macroglossum haslami haslami and Macroglossum haslami kishidai, for consistency with the approach adopted here with regard to other similar cases of large Macroglossum, Macroglossum malitum is considered best treated as a subspecies of Macroglossum haslami.
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical):
Ed Baker,
Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith
