Hyles tithymali

Hyles tithymali, the Barbary spurge hawk-moth, is a species of moth in the family Sphingidae first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1834. Genomic analysis places the entire species as a subspecies of Hyles euphorbiae.^[2] It is found in North Africa, the Canary Islands, Madeira, some islands in the Mediterranean Sea and in the mountains in Yemen.

Hyles tithymali
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Hyles
Species:	H. tithymali
Binomial name
Hyles tithymali (Boisduval, 1834)[1]
Synonyms
Deilephila tithymali Boisduval, 1834 Deilephila calverleyi Grote, 1865 Hyles cretica Celerio deserticola saharae Günther, 1939 Celerio euphorbiae albeola Stauder, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae cingulata Stauder, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae extensa Closs, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae reverdini Stauder, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae rosea Closs, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae satanella Stauder, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae velutina Stauder, 1913 Celerio mauretanica dealbata Schultz, 1911 Celerio mauretanica flaveola Oberthür, 1904 Deilephila tithymali deserticola Staudinger, 1901

The length of the forewings is 45–85 mm. The larvae feed on Euphorbia.

It is thought that Hyles tithymali had a much larger range in Europe, but has been pushed further south after the cooling c. 3600 years ago. Its place has been taken over by strains of Hyles euphorbiae which are more resistant to the cold. Because of this, many isolated populations exist today, many of which have developed into distinct subspecies.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:

• H. t. tithymali (Boisduval, 1834) (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura islands)
• H. t. mauretanica (Staudinger, 1871) (North Africa)
• H. t. deserticola (Staudinger, 1901) (North Africa)
• H. t. gecki (de Freina, 1991) (Madeira island)
• H. t. phaelipae Gil-T. & Gil-Uceda, 2007 (El Hierro and La Palma islands)
• H. t. himyarensis Meerman, 1988 (Yemen)
• H. t. cretica (Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1998) (Creta island)
• H. t. gallaeci Gil-T., Requejo & Estévez, 2011 (north-western Iberian Peninsula, Galicia Region, Spain)

- The taxon sammuti [=H. t. sammuti (Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1998)] according to molecular studies is a hybrid from H. euphorbiae × H. tithymali.

- Hyles tithymali cretica is regarded, according to authors, as a full species or as a hybrid from H. euphorbiae × H. tithymali.

- The taxonomic final status of the taxon gallaeci Gil-T., Requejo & Estévez, 2011 (larvae very similar to other taxa of the tithymali group) is awaiting a study molecular (not only of its mitochondrial DNA, but also of its nuclear DNA).

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  H. t. mauretanica - dorsal side
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  H. t. mauretanica - ventral side
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  H. t. deserticola
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  H. t. mauretanica