If you have corrections
to offer, please contact This checklist is probably not terribly accurate.
I fully expect there may be some omissions and probably many erroneous inclusions. I
have used a checklist for Argentina as a starting point,
but the two countries are separated by the Andes and may have quite different fauna.
Bill Oehlke at
oehlkew@islandtelecom.com.
Please note: this list is very tentative, and highly speculative. Only two species listed have specimen types from Chile,
Manduca sexta caestri and Hyles annei.
I strongly suspect that many of the species listed below, which have been found in northwestern Argentina, do not make it over the Andes to fly in Chile.
The high altitude, drier regions of northern Chile also offer obstacles to migrating species from southern Peru and Bolivia.
The Sphingidae biodiversity in Chile is probably much less than indicated below.
Higher altitude, drier climate, colder temperatures, etc, probably do not provide suitable habitat for many of the more tropical species.
This updated page is inspired by Bernhard Wenczel who raised some questions about Sphingidae in Chile, April 18, 2011, and it is dedicated to
Fernando Calvo of Chile who sends these sighting reports:
Hyles annei flies between Copiapó and Angol;
Hyles euphorbiarum flies between Arica and Rancagua;
Hyles lineata flies between Santiago and Angol;
Manduca sexta (no data);
Agrius cingulata (no data).
Go to Indices of Nations
Go to South American Index
Go to Central American Index
This page is brought to you by Bill Oehlke and the WLSS. Pages are on space rented from Bizland. If you would like to become a "Patron of the Sphingidae Site", contact Bill.
Please send sightings/images to Bill. I will do my best to respond to requests for identification help.