Abstract

This checklist synthesises historic collections of Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) made during the sum¬mer months in the Cayman Islands in 1938 and 1975 with modern records drawn from a variety of sources. We report observations and collections made in all seasons of the year and provide natural history and larval food details. Four species, Phryxus caicus (Cramer) in all three islands, plus Isognathus rimosa (Grote), Enyo lugubris (Linnaeus), and Eumorpha satellitia (Linnaeus) in Grand Cayman only, are here reported as new records, for a total of 25 sphingid species occurring in the Cayman Islands. Seven species are new records for Grand Cayman, five are added for Little Cayman and two for Cayman Brac. Potential hawkmoth pollinators for the Cayman Islands endemic ghost orchid, Dendrophylax fawcettii Rolfe (Orchidaceae: Angraecinae) are reviewed and Cayman records of hawkmoths as prey of the big-eared bat Macrotus waterhousii minor Gund¬lach (Phyllostomidae) are discussed.

References

• Ackerman JD. 2014. Orchid flora of the Greater Antilles. The New York Botanical Garden Press; New York. 625 p 
• Ackerman JD, Rodrigues-Robles JA, Melendez EJ. 1994. A meager nectar offering by an epiphytic orchid is better than nothing. Biotropica 26(1): 44–49.  
• Askew RR. 1980. Hawkmoths (Lep., Sphingidae) of Little Cayman. Atoll Research Bulletin 241: 139–140.  
• Askew RR. 1994. Insects of the Cayman Islands p. 333–356. In: Brunt MA, Davies JE (eds.). The Cayman Islands: Natural history and biogeography. Kluwer Academic Publishers; The Netherlands. xx + 604 p 
• Ballesteros Mejia L, Arnal P, Hallwachs W, Haxaire J, Janzen D, Kitching I, Rougerie R. 2020. A global food plant dataset for wild silkmoths and hawkmoths and its use in documenting polyphagy of their caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea: Saturniidae, Sphingidae). Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e60027.  
• Bruner SC, Scaramuzza LC, Otero LS. 1975. Catálogo de los insectos que atacan a las plantas económicas de Cuba. 2nd ed. Ministerio de Agricultura; Havana. 246 p 
• Brunt MA, Davies JE. 1994. The Cayman Islands: Natural history and biogeography. Kluwer Academic Publishers; The Netherlands. xx + 604 p 
• Burton FJ. 2008. Vegetation classification for the Cayman Islands, a CD accompanying Burton F.J. 2008. Threatened plants of the Cayman Islands: The red list. Kew Publishing; Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London. 105 p 
• Burton FJ, Roberts A. 2014. Dendrophylax fawcettii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.  https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T56499921A56503815.en  (Last accessed July 31, 2018.)
• Cary MM. 1951. Distribution of Sphingidae (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) in the Antillean–Caribbean Region. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 77(2): 63–129.  
• Craton M. 2003. Founded on the seas: a history of the Cayman Islands and their people. Ian Randle Publishers; Kingston, Jamaica. xi + 532 p 
• D’Abrera B. 1986. Sphingidae Mundi. E.W. Classey; Faringdon, UK. 226 p 
• DaCosta-Cottam M, Olynik J, Blumenthal J, Godbeer KD, Gibb J, Bothwell J, Burton, FJ Bradley PE, Band A, Austin T, Bush P, Johnson BJ, Hurlston L, Bishop L, McCoy C, Parsons G, Kirkconnell J, Halford S, Ebanks-Petrie G. 2009. Cayman Islands National Biodiversity Action Plan 2009. Cayman Islands Government, Department of Environment; Cayman Islands. 385 p 
• Daly KC, Smith BH. 2000. Associative olfactory learning in the moth Manduca sexta. Journal of Experimental Biology 203: 2025–2038.  
• Danaher MW, Ward C, Zettler LW, Covell C. 2019. Pollinia removal and suspected pollination of the endangered ghost orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii (Orchidaceae) by various hawk moths (Lepidotera: Sphingidae): another mystery dispelled. Florida Entomologist 102(4): 671–683.  
• Darwin CR. 1862. On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects. John Murray; London. vi + 366 p 
• Davies JE. 1994. Mosquitoes of the Cayman Islands. p. 357–376. In: Brunt MA, Davies JE (eds.). The Cayman Islands: Natural history and biogeography. Kluwer Academic Publishers; The Netherlands. xx + 604 p 
• Dunkle S, Belwood J. 1982. Bat predation on Odonata. Odonatologica 11(3): 225–229.  
• GBIF [Global Biodiversity Information Forum]. 2020. GBIF Occurrence  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ykyuwz  (Last accessed March 4, 2020.)
• GBIF [Global Biodiversity Information Forum]. 2022. GBIF. Available at https://www.gbif.org/  (Last accessed March 15, 2022.)
• Goodman RM. 2007. Activity patterns and foraging behavior of the endangered Grand Cayman blue iguana Cyclura lewisi. Caribbean Journal of Science 43(1): 73–86.  
• Ground RW. 1989. Creator’s glory. D. and R. Ground for the National Trust for the Cayman Islands; Cayman Islands. 84 p 
• Gundlach J. 1881. Contribución a la Entomologia Cubana. Parte primera. Lepidopteros. G. Monteil; Havana. xxi + 445 p 
• Habeck DH, Bennett FD, Miller C. 2016. Cactus Moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). EENY-056. Department of Entomology and Nematology, UF/IFAS Extension. Available at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/  (Last accessed March 29, 2022.)
• Haber W, Frankie G. 1989. A tropical hawkmoth community: Costa Rican dry forest Sphingidae. Biotropica 21(2): 155–172.  
• Hampson GF. 1911. Descriptions of new genera and species of Syntomidae, Arctiidae, Agaristidae, and Noctuidae. Journal of Natural History 8(46): 393–445.  
• Haverkamp A, Bing JB, Hansson BS, Knaden M. 2016. Innate olfactory preferences for flowers matching proboscis length ensure optimal energy gain in a hawkmoth. Nature Communications 7(11644): 1–9.  
• Haxaire, J, Mielke CGC. 2019. A revised and annotated checklist of the Brazilian Sphingidae with new records, taxonomical notes, and description of one new species (Lepidoptera Sphingidae). The European Entomologist 11(3–4): 101–187.  
• Hines KN. 2016. Food habits of northern Bahamian Rock Iguanas (Cyclura cychlura) in the Exuma Islands, with a dietary review of rock iguanas (genus Cyclura). Herpetological Conservation and Biology 11(6): 121–138.  
• Houlihan PR, Stone M, Clem SE, Owen M, Emmel TC. 2019. Pollination ecology of the ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii): a first description with new hypotheses for Darwin’s orchids. Nature Scientific Reports 9(12850): 1–10.  
• Johnson SD, Anderson B. 2010. Coevolution between food-rewarding flowers and their pollinators. Evolution: Education and Outreach 3: 32–39.  
• Johnson SD, More MA, Haber WA, Frankie GW, Stanley DA, Cocucci AA, Raguso RA. 2017. The long and the short of it: a global analysis of hawkmoth pollination niches and interaction networks. Functional Ecology 31(1): 101–115.  
• Jordan K. 1940. Results of the Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands, 1938, Sphingidae (Lep.). Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 76: 275–277.  
• Kawahara AY, Mignault AA., Regier JC, Kitching IJ, Mitter C. 2009. Phylogeny and biogeography of hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae): evidence from five nuclear genes. PLoS ONE 4, no. 5. e5719. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0005719.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005719 
• Kitching IJ. 2022a. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory. Available at http://sphingidae.myspecies.info/  (Last accessed March 15, 2022.)
• Kitching IJ. 2022b. Cautethia grotei apira. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory. Available at http://sphingidae.myspecies.info/  (Last accessed March 15, 2022.)
• Kitching, IJ. 2022c. Cautethia grotei hilaris. Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory. Available at http://sphingidae.myspecies.info/  (Last accessed March 15, 2022.)
• Kitching IJ, Cadiou J-M. 2000. Hawkmoths of the world: an annotated and illustrated revisionary checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Cornell University Press; Ithaca, NY. 226 p 
• Kitching IJ, Rougerie R, Zwick A, Hamilton C, St Laurent R, Naumann S, Ballesteros Mejia L, Kawahara A. 2018. A global checklist of the Bombycoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e22236.  
• Klopp WW. 1967. Notices. Michigan Entomological Society Newsletter 11(4): 8.  
• Knudsen JT, Eriksson R, Gershenzon J, Stahl B. 2006. Diversity and distribution of floral scent. The Botanical Review 72(1): 1–120.  
• Little C. 2008. Ghost Orchid Visited by Giant Sphinx Moth. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca--GgEe2Zg  (Last accessed March 16, 2022.)
• Martins DJ, Johnson SD. 2007. Hawkmoth pollination of aerangoid orchids in Kenya, with special reference to nectar sugar gradients in the floral spur. American Journal of Botany 94(4): 650–659.  
• Melichar T, Řezáč M. 2013. Two new subspecies of Madoryx pseudothyreus (Grote, 1865) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) from the Bahamas and Florida. The European Entomologist 5(2): 59–63.  
• Melichar T, Řezáč M, Ilčiková, A. 2016. Descriptions of two new subspecies of the genus Cautethia Grote, 1865 (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) from the Bahamas and Jamaica. The European Entomologist 8(4): 165–177.  
• Miller WE. 1997. Diversity and evolution of tongue length in hawkmoths (Sphingidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 51(1): 9–31.  
• Minno MC, Emmel TC. 1990. Notes on the peculiar life history of Madoryx pseudothyreus, a cocoon-building hawkmoth in the Florida Keys. Tropical Lepidoptera 1(2): 87–90.  
• Morgan G. 1994. Mammals of the Cayman Islands. p. 435–463. In: Brunt MA, Davies JE (eds.). The Cayman Islands: Natural history and biogeography. Kluwer Academic Publishers; The Netherlands. xx + 604 p 
• Mújica EB, Mably JJ, Skarha SM, Corey LL, Richardson LW, Danaher MW, González EH, Zettler LW. 2018. A comparision (sic) of ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) habitats in Florida and Cuba, with particular reference to seedling recruitment and mycorrhizal fungi. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 186(4): 572–586.  
• Oehlke W. 2022a. Erinnyis ello. Available at http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/Sphinx/eello.htm  (Last accessed March 15, 2022.)
• Oehlke W. 2022b. Protambulyx strigilis strigilis. Available at http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/Sphinx/pstrigil.htm  (Last accessed March 15, 2022.)
• Proctor GR. 2012. The flora of the Cayman Islands. Second edition. Kew Publishing; Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew, London. 724 p 
• Raguso RA, Willis MA. 2002. Synergy between visual and olfactory cues in nectar feeding by naive hawkmoths, Manduca sexta. Animal Behaviour 64(5): 685–695.  
• Sadler JJ, Smith JM, Zettler LW, Alborn HT, Richardson LW. 2011. Fragrance composition of Dendrophylax lindenii (Orchidaceae) using a novel technique applied in situ. European Journal of Environmental Sciences 1(2): 137–141.  
• Sánchez O, Wilson DE. 2016. Food items of Macrotus waterhousii (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in central Mexico. Therya 7(1): 161–177.  
• Savage English TM. 1916. Notes on some birds of Grand Cayman. W.I. Ibis 10(4): 17–35.  
• Steiner W. 2013. An annotated checklist of the Coleoptera (Insecta) of the Cayman Islands, West Indies. Insecta Mundi 0280: 1–56.  
• Tuttle JP. 2007. The hawk moths of North America. A natural history study of the Sphingidae of the United States and Canada. Wedge Entomological Research Foundation; Washington, DC. xviii + 253 p