Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) preserved at the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires: Catalog of the types and checklist of Argentinean species

A catalog of all type specimens preserved in the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia,” and a checklist of species of Argentinean Sphingidae kept in the museum, are presented. Ten nominal species, nine from Argentina and one from Perú, are represented by 13 type specimens. The checklist is based on the examination of 1724 specimens. Numerous new records for most species are offered, with expansion of the distribution of 25 species to new provinces.


INTRODUCTION
Collections of insects are essential as they provide information on the entomological fauna inhabiting a given region. Also, collections are the repository of types, which are widely used as they are the necessary reference specimens for species identification decisions. The collection of the Entomological Division at the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN), in Buenos Aires, is the oldest and one of the largest in Argentina, covering a wealth of specimens perfectly preserved.
Lepidoptera being one of the best represented orders in number of specimens in colections, are well studied, in particular the family Sphingidae. Worldwide, about 200 genera and around 1350 species of hawkmoths (Kitching & Cadiou, 2000) are known, out of which 30 genera with 122 species are present in Argentina (Kitching & Cadiou, 2000;Núñez Bustos, com pers.). Sphingidae are among the main pollinators of the tropical communities, because they are the sole pollinators of most night-blooming flowers (Haber & Frankie, 1989).
This contribution presents the results of the sorting, classifying and cataloging of the Sphingidae of the MACN collection. The databasing of all the information contained in specimen labels, provided new data that expand the distribution of many hawkmoths, specifically from Argentina. Cienc. Nat.,n.s. 16(2): 185-200, 2014185-200, ISSN 1514 ISSN 1853-0400 (en línea) Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) preserved at the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires: Catalog of the types and checklist of Argentinean species

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The revision and sorting of the collection of Sphingidae was done between October 2012 and March 2014. The collection was reorganized, putting together the species from several collections, which had been kept separately. The type specimens and all specimens belonging to Argentina were entered in the MACN database, registering all the data on the labels. For the sorting and classification of the specimens Moré et al. (2005) and Oehlke (2014) were followed. Several identifications were confirmed by Ezequiel Nuñez-Bustos.
The type specimens are alphabetically ordered, indicating the original genus of the binomen between brackets. The citation of the species is followed, between quotation marks, by the original statement of the author indicating locality, number of specimens, and other information considered useful. The specimens actually housed in the Museum are then mentioned, copying and describing their labels. Each label is copied between quotation marks, and lines on the labels are separated by a bar ( / ); characteristics of the label are mentioned between brackets. MACN-En numbers correspond to the entries in the database. Notes are provided, mentioned the present classification of each species. Each type specimen is illustrated in figure 1. Size measurements are also shown.
In the checklist the material examined is ordered by provinces and their departments. Species distributions are listed according to the literature and the studied material. Provinces cited in italics are new records for the species. Notes follow when appropriate.

RESULTS
The Sphingidae deposited in the MACN collection are represented by 27 genera and 79 species, classified into three sub-families. The number of genera and species per sub-family is as follows: Smerinthinae, 3 genera and 4 species, Sphinginae, 7 genera and 25 species and Macroglossinae, 17 genera and 50 species.
The specimens in the collection are well preserved, including those dating from the nineteenth century. The oldest specimens are dated between 1880 and 1898, but most of the material is dated between 1901 and 1980, with recent collections in 1993-1998 and 2014. The amount of Argentine material of Sphingidae in the museum is 1,724 specimens. The Museum has lacked Lepidoptera specialists since the 1940's. The speci-mens were spread in separate donations or material brought in by several collectors. This contribution is the result of the reorganization and cataloging the collection.