Three new hawk moth species from The Bahamas are smashing records as the Florida Museum of Natural History team found the smallest moth species around the same size as a vitamin pill. Deborah Matthews, a biologist at the museum's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, confirmed that the new species they have are the smallest of all the little hawk moths they have. The report was published in Insecta Mundi.
Smallest Hawk Moth Discovery
Matthews and Florida Museum Lepidoptera curator Jacqueline Miller went through the museum's hawk moth collection. They aimed to identify Bahamas specimens and sort survey material island by island. This activity resulted in the identification of the new Caribbean species.
However, identifying the species is challenging, which is not as easy as a proboscis. Sometimes a species can be identified by its distinctive wing pattern, such as the discernible yet minute differences between viceroy and monarch butterflies. However, these distinctions are frequently not as obvious in closely related moths. Researchers must examine their anatomy to be certain. That required Matthews and Miller to inspect the moths' genitalia thoroughly.
Matthew said that with genitalia, they can compare structures, which is not always possible for unique wing patterns. When the genitalia from the test specimens was dissected and examined under a microscope, the researchers saw a striking difference. Matthews and Miller thought they were dealing with three new species.
To confirm their findings, they asked for Riley Gott's help. He is a technical research assistant at the Florida Museum. He assisted them in sequencing DNA from specimens. Through the analyzed DNA sequences, their suspicions were verified.
"In terms of moths, the giant silk moths and hawk moths are very popular and well-studied, kind of like the butterflies of the moth world. So, for us to find three new hawk moth species, that's a really big deal," Matthews said.
Hawk Moth Characteristics
The researchers assume that severe weather may blame the moth's size. As an archipelago, the Bahamas is one of the first places to be impacted by Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms during their peak. Because the extreme wind and rain can threaten the entire population, it is possible that butterflies and moths with smaller wings can withstand the strong winds better. On the other hand, the drought-like season could restrict the available food for the caterpillars.
The discovery of these three new species would probably lead to more in the future. These specimens were formerly classified as morphospecies, a collection of creatures with a similar appearance, before being recognized as a distinct species. However, individuals within a morphospecies have slight differences, such as the moths' genitalia.
Miller and Matthews estimate that The Bahamas are home to 1,000 different morphospecies of moths. A little more than 71% of them have already been identified, leaving the remaining 29% whose identities are still unknown. It takes a lot of work to study each one to determine which are distinct species, frequently requiring the assistance of experts with trained eyes. Yet Matthews said that sometimes it just takes diving into oneself and knowing a group's nomenclature.
Other smallest moths named earlier were the pygmy sorrel moth reported in Smithsonian, and the stigmella maya from Mexico reported in the Natural History Museum.
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