Review of the Narrow-Banded Hawkmoth, Neogurelca montana (Rothschild & Jordan, 1915) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in China, with Morphological and Phylogenetic Analysis

Zhen-Bang Xu; Ji-Bai He; Nan Yang; Ian J Kitching; Shao-Ji Hu

doi:10.3390/insects14100818

Review of the Narrow-Banded Hawkmoth, Neogurelca montana (Rothschild & Jordan, 1915) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) in China, with Morphological and Phylogenetic Analysis

Insects. 2023 Oct 16;14(10):818. doi: 10.3390/insects14100818.

Authors

Zhen-Bang Xu^{1

2

3}, Ji-Bai He⁴, Nan Yang⁵, Ian J Kitching⁶, Shao-Ji Hu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Yunnan Key Laboratory of International Rivers and Transboundary Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China.
² Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China.
³ Guangxi Institute of Botany, Chinses Academy of Sciences, Guilin 541006, China.
⁴ Independent Researcher, Chengdu 611139, China.
⁵ Beijing Baihuashan National Reserve, Beijing 102461, China.
⁶ Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.

Abstract

Neogurelca montana (Rothschild & Jordan, 1915) is a species of the genus Neogurelca Hogenes & Treadaway, 1993, that was previously known from Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet, China. Recently, however, this species was also found in Beijing and Hebei. These populations differ from those in southwest China in body colour and the shape of the yellow patches of the hindwing-a paler body colour and triangular patches in the former and darker body colour and fan-like patches in the latter. Wing morphology, male and female genitalia, and molecular evidence (DNA barcodes) were analysed for the different localities of this species and three other Neogurelca species-N. hyas, N. himachala, and N. masuriensis. Our molecular data support the Beijing population of montana as a valid subspecies, which we describe as N. montana taihangensisssp. nov. Wing and genital morphology confirm the molecular conclusions. We also collected larvae of the new subspecies in the Beijing suburbs and describe its life history and larval hosts and compare them with those of N. himachala.

Keywords: DNA barcodes; Neogurelca; genital structure; molecular phylogeny; wing pattern.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Academician (Expert) Working Station (202305AF150037), Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and Science and Technology Plans of Guangxi (grant no. AD19245113 to CQL).