AMBULYX SEMIPLACIDA BHUTANA Brechlin, 2014 -- Bhutan gliding hawkmoth

Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana. (A, B) HOLOTYPE, male, 5km S Trongsa Dzong, Bhutan; (C, D) ALLOTYPE, female, Jongkhar, Morong, Bhutan. Photo: © Ronald Brechlin.

TAXONOMY

Ambulyx bhutana Brechlin, 2014, Entomo-Satsphingia, 7(2): 50. Type locality: Bhutan, 5km S Trongsa Dzong, ca. 27°27.8'N 90°30.1'E, 30.iv.2009, 1925m.

Note. Synonymized with Ambulyx semiplacida as a subspecies by Haxaire & Melichar, 2023, European Ent., 15(3+4): 120.


ADULT DESCRIPTION AND VARIATION

Wingspan: 98-110mm. Male similar to Ambulyx semiplacida semiplacida but forewing upperside colour tending to be more greyish and with pattern more uniform. Forewing narrower and longer, upperside black subbasal spot variable in size, subterminal line more weakly arched than in Ambulyx semiplacida semiplacida; underside pattern almost the same as the upperside, but densely covered with scattered greyish-black scales. Forewing underside and hindwing upperside ground colour ochreous-yellow. Female similar to male, but wings broader and ground colour darker, pattern more uniform, antennae more slender (Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).

Male genitalia very similar to Ambulyx semiplacida semiplacida, but gnathos strongly bilobed (Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).


ADULT BIOLOGY

Subtropical forest at 1500-2000m altitude.


FLIGHT-TIME

Bhutan: 30.iv (Trongsa Dzong).


EARLY STAGES

OVUM: Unknown.

LARVA: Unknown.

PUPA: Unknown.


PARASITOIDS

Unknown.


LOCAL DISTRIBUTION

China: ?Xizang/Tibet.


GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

The hills of northeastern India, Bhutan, northern Myanmar/Burma (Maymyo) and, maybe, just into southern China (Xizang/Tibet).


Global distribution of Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana. Map: © Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025.

Map: Distribution of species of the Ambulyx placida-group: Ambulyx japonica japonica (blue dots); Ambulyx japonica koreana (pink patch); Ambulyx japonica angustifasciata (green dots); Ambulyx placida (ochre squares); Ambulyx semiplacida semiplacida (red dots); Ambulyx semiplacida montana (black dots); Ambulyx semiplacida interplacida (orange patch); Ambulyx semiplacida bhutana (yellow dots); and Ambulyx wukong (purple squares). (© Jiang, Kitching, Xu, Xu, Yan, Yu, Liu & Hu, 2025).


BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AFFILIATION

Oriental region. Pleistocene refuge: eastern section of Sindian refuge or Sinotibetan refuge.



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© A. R. Pittaway & I. J. Kitching (Natural History Museum, London)