Two new native larval host plants of Hyles annei (Guérin-Méneville, 1839) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile following exceptional summer rainfall

Abstract

Adults of the little-known Neotropical hawkmoth, Hyles annei (Guérin-Méneville, 1839) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae: Macroglossinae: Macroglossini), were reared from larvae collected on Allionia incarnata L. (Nyctaginaceae) and Fagonia chilensis Hook. & Arn. (Zygophyllaceae) at about 1900 m elevation in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The two plants were growing after exceptionally high summer rainfall as part of a blooming desert event. These findings provide a clear example of the ability of this hawkmoth to use ephemeral and unpredictable resources in a hyperarid environment.