Revisão do conhecimento sobre diversidade e evolução de esfingídeos (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), incluindo registros de ocorrência e mapas de distribuição para as espécies do Brasil

Abstract

Due to their great flight capacity and long proboscis, moths of the Sphingidae family are fundamental pollinators, providing important environmental services and supplying subsidies for ecological studies. Due to their exceptional characteristics, sphingids are objects of studies such as plant-sphingid interactions, biogeography, genetics, morphology, biodiversity assessments, habitat quality, environmental control, among others. Thus, the objective of this work was to conduct (i) a bibliographic review of the state of the art about the knowledge regarding the diversity and evolution of the family Sphingidae; (ii) the compilation of data on the occurrence of sphingids in Brazil; and (iii) the elaboration of distribution maps for the species found in the Brazilian fauna. For the review, reference banks focusing on Sphingidae were consulted, and for the distribution and occurrence data of the family, data available in published studies, database websites and entomological collections were compiled. Based on the selected literature, we chose to focus the review in the following subjects: evolution of wing size and shape, proboscis elongation and sphingid-plant interactions. The main conclusion is that the morphological evolution underwent by sphingid species was majorly related to their feeding behavior involving hovering flight, with the associated energy costs, differing thus from moth species of different families. Also, these moths coevolved with their host plants, originating highly specific and interdependent relationships. Regarding the Brazilian Sphingidae fauna, records for 208 species, in 32 genera, were found. Based on these data, 82 distribution maps were produced, showing the occurrence sites for the sphingid species across the country, contextualized in the biomes found in Brazil. From the list of species found in the Brazilian fauna, 129 occur in the Atlantic Forest biome, being the biome with the highest number of species and possible endemism (26 species). The Atlantic Forest is followed by Amazon, with 109 species, Cerrado, with 54, Caatinga, with 22, and Pampa, with 21 species. For the Pantanal biome, no exact occurrence records were found, although there are species with known distribution that encompass areas pertaining to the biome. The results demonstrate the vast sphingofauna existing in Brazil, and the high richness and abundance of sphingids occurring in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon regions. Studies on the distribution and ecological interactions of sphingids are still scarce, highlighting the importance that more research on this family is still necessary so that we have a better understanding of the evolution and distribution of these moths in the Neotropical region.