Biodiversity Journal, 2023, 14 (1): 223–239 Morphological description and ecological status of Hawk- moths (Lepidoptera Sphingidae) in selected areas of Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines Michelle S. Suelo¹, Alma B. Mohagan², Aprille Joy M. Luceño², Chris Rey M. Lituañas², Joliesa Mae S. Toledo², Rona Mae P. Viernes¹ & Reggie Y. Dela Cruz² ¹Central Mindanao University (CMU) Graduate Student ² Faculty of the Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences Central Mindanao University, University Town, Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon 8714 Philippines *Corresponding author: michelle.suelo5@gmail.com ABSTRACT Received 28.10.2022; accepted 04.02.2023; published online 18.03.2023 Hawkmoths which belongs to order Lepidoptera and family Sphingidae are known for their vital ecological role on biodiversity. They are responsible for pollinating tropical flora due to the presence of their proboscis making Sphingidae family be considered of great ecological and economic importance. The light trapping technique was a successful method in the col- lection of hawkmoths species in selected areas of Vintar, Valencia City, Musuan and Bacu- sanon, Pangantucan, Bukidnon. A total of 54 individuals where collected which consist of 15 species belonging to 9 genera (Acosmeryx, Ambulyx, Amplypterus, Cechenena, Daphnis, Hip- potion, Marumba, Pergesa and Theretra). Morphological description became the basis of its identification. Ecological status of each species based on the checklist of Hogenes & Tread- away revealed that among the species collected, three species are endemic to the Philippines and thesa are Ambulyx bakeri, Ambulyx johnsoni and Ambulyx wilemani. One species is cat- egorized as rare (Amplyterus panopus), three species are uncommon and the rest of the species collected are all common and widely distributed to the Philippines. INTRODUCTION The Philippines, one of the world’s 17 megadi- versity countries, has a wealth of natural resources and is geographically situated in Southeast Asia (Fontanilla et al., 2014). Mindanao Island is one of the largest Island in the Philippines. Most of the re- searchers are interested in conducting their study due to the diversity of flora and fauna. Sphingidae is a family of moths belonging to Order Lepidoptera which is the second largest order in class Insecta (Johnson et al., 2016) and comprises approximately 157,000 species (Stöckl & Kelber, 2019; Cho et al., 2016; Sebua & Nuñeza, 2020; van Nieukerken et al., 2011). They are commonly known as hawk- moths, hummingbird moths or sphinx moth (Mes- senger, 1997; Devi & Ramaraju, 2015; Stöckl & Kelber, 2019). Hawkmoths larvae are known to have presence of caudal horn while adults are dis- tinguished among others due to the presence of their proboscis which varies in length (Johnson et al. 2016), bullet-shaped body (Akkuzu et al., 2007) and rapid flying ability (Akkuzu et al., 2007; Mohagan et al., 2018; Stöckl & Kelber, 2019; Messenger, KEY WORDS Hawkmoths; Lepidoptera; Light trapping; Sphingidae. https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2023.14.1.223.239