In the Atlantic Rainforest of Pernambuco, NE-Brazil (Reserva Biológica de Gurjaú, Cabo de Santo Agostinho) a survey of Sphingidae was performed from December 2002 to November 2003. The hawkmoths were collected with vapor mercury light during two consecutive nights per months near new moon. Species richness, abundance and seasonality were determined. Eighty-nine specimens of 23 species in13 genera were recorded; 84% the individuals were males. Most species were rare and from 13 species only one exemplar was collected. Xylophanes loelia (Druce, 1878), X. libya (Druce, 1878), Hemeroplanes triptolemus (Cramer, 1779), Eumorpha anchemolus (Cramer, 1779), Manduca brasilensis (Jordan, 1911), M. hannibal (Cramer, 1779), Adhemarius gannascus (Stoll, 1790) e Protambulyx astygonus (Boisduval, [1875]) were recorded for the first time in Northeastern Brazil. The sphingofauna showed no seasonal patterns and species richness and hawkmoths abundance were not correlated with mean monthly precipitation and temperature.
Diversity; hawkmoth; rainforest; survey
