Hawk Moths of Jamaica

Book excerpt: Jamaica was initially one of a few locations in the New World where early collections of hawk moths were made by visiting naturalists including Sir Hans Sloane, Philip Gosse, and natural history illustrator Luke Robins. From this material several species of hawk moths, new to science, were first described by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), Dru Drury (1724-1803), Johan Phillip Fabricius (1745-1808) and others. In the subsequent centuries the known number of Jamaican hawk moth species has gradually grown with new records noted in individual descriptions or in species lists. However, there has been no single illustrated publication specifically devoted to Jamaica’s hawk moths. Our book, “Hawk Moths of Jamaica”, for the first time provides photographs, descriptions, and distribution maps of all species recorded from the island.