A revision of the Asiatic genus Smerinthulus Huwe, 1895 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), with the description of three new taxa and notes on its junior synonym, Degmaptera Hampson, 1896

Abstract

The Asian sphingid genus Smerinthulus is revised and the first illustrated catalogue of all the known species produced, showing the habitus of the adults and the structure of the male genitalia. The current generic circumscription is accepted, that is including Degmaptera Hampson, 1896 but excluding Cypoides Matsumura, 1921. Two species, Smerinthulus arunachalensis Melichar & Haxaire n. sp. and Smerinthulus taiwana Haxaire & Melichar n. sp., and one new subspecies, Smerinthulus diehli pinratanai Haxaire & Melichar n. ssp., are described as new to science. In addition, Smerinthulus paradoxa Kishida & Suziki, 2021 syn. nov. is treated as a junior synonym of Smerinthulus olivacea (Rothschild, 1894), and Smerinthulus schnitzleri (Melichar & Řezáč, [2014]) is synonymized with Smerinthulus mirabilis (Rothschild, 1894) as a subspecies, Smerinthulus mirabilis schnitzleri syn. & stat. nov. Furthermore, Smerinthulus flavomaculatus Inoue 1990 stat. rev., hitherto treated as a subspecies of S. perversa (Rothschild, 1895), is reinstated to full species status.