Morphology of the egg and larva of a poorly known hawkmoth: Subsidies for a better understanding of the systematics of Ambulycini (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae, Smerinthinae)

Orecta lycidas (Boisduval, 1875) is found in the Atlantic Forest of southern and southeastern Brazil and from southern Uruguay to Argentina. Brazilian populations are identified as O. l. lycidas, while in the other parts of its distribution it is known as O. lycidas eos (Burmeister, 1878). The poor representation of the species in scientific collections has led specialists to treat it as rare and to contemplate its inclusion in the list of vulnerable species to the extinction for the State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. With the objective to increase knowledge of this species and considering the importance of the immature morphology to understand the biology and evolutionary history of these moths, and the difficulty of obtaining samples for this purpose, a study of the external morphology of the egg and first instar of O. l. lycidas was conducted. For the first time the chaetotaxy of an Ambulycini is described. This work will serve for future studies to allow the use of hawkmoth egg and larval characteristics in the construction of phylogenetic hypotheses.