GENERAL INTRODUCTION

range of body sizes among the family there are differences in average body size and -shape between the subfamilies - Macroglossinae have shorter wings and a larger thorax in relation to the wing size than other subfamilies (chapter 5.2), a fact that could influence flight abilities and dispersal of the taxa. Most adult Sphingidae feed an flower nectar which presumably allows them to imbibe energy in the form of carbohydrates, but probably only few proteins or amino acids. Adult search for amino acids or protein, which occurs in other taxa an flowers (e.g. Alm et al. 1990, Erhardt & Baker 1990, Erhardt 1991, Dunlap-Pianka et al. 1979, see also Blthgen & Fiedler 2004a, b and references therein) and elsewhere (Beck et al. 1999, Bnziger 1975, 1979, 1980, 1986), has not been studied in detail in the Sphingidae, but there are indications of nitrogen-related ` mud-puddling' in various species (Bnziger 1988, Bttiker 1973). Furthermore, some unusual adult feeding habits occur, such as stealing honey from bee's nests (in Acherontia sp.) and tear-drinking an large mammals (Bnziger 1988). Very little is known about the specificity of flower visits of adult hawkmoths, but it has been observed that Sphingidae apparently remember the location of rich nectar sources and visit them again (Janzen 1984, Pittaway 1997). Many Smerinthinae, particularly of the tribus Smerinthini, are not feeding as adults (as may be concluded from a missing or reduced proboscis; it is to date not really clear if this is a plesiomorphic character within the Sphingidae, I.J. Kitching pers. com .), while the adult feeding habits and their ecological consequences (see below) in the tribus Ambulycini (see table 1) requires further attention. Ambulycini have a reduced, yet probably functional proboscis, an which flower pollen were found in six species of the genera Ambulyx and Amplypterus from Borneo (J. Beck & N. Blthgen, unpubl.). Ambulycini appear intermediate between the non-feeding Smerinthini and the feeding adults of other subfamilies, with a larval biology similar to the former group, but traits of Sphinginae- or Macroglossinae adult behaviour (see also chapter 7 for discussion). Adult diet has an influence an life-span and egg production in Lepidoptera (e.g. Karlson 1994, Hill 1989, Hainsworth et al. 1991). The lack of adult feeding in some groups is i nfluencing their life-history with probably far-reaching ecological and behavioural consequences (e.g. Tammaru & Haukioja 1996, see also Janzen 1984 for a thorough discussion): Non-feeding adults have to produce all eggs from larval resources (capital breeders), while their adult life is presumably relatively short. Feeding adults, an the other hand, can use adult resources for egg production and body maintenance (income breeders), and thus have a potential for a longer adult life-span (see also the discussion of semelparous vs. iteroparous organisms in Begon et al. 1996). Parasitoids from a wide range of taxa are known to attack hawkmoth eggs and caterpillars of the Western Palaearctic region (see Pittaway 1997 for details), including nematode worms, Hymenoptera (Trichogrammatidae, Ichneumonidae, Braconidae) and Diptera (Tachinidae), which can lead to a mortality of up to 80 percent in some investigated caterpillar populations (see Pittaway 1997 for references). Known predators of larva and adults are invertebrates (ants, social wasps, beetles, spiders) as well as vertebrates (mice, shrews, birds, bats, cats; Pittaway 1997, Giardini 1993). Sphingidae rely mostly an crypsis as a means of predator escape, but eyespots (as snake-mimicry) in caterpillars and startling pink and yellow hindwings in adults occur in some taxa (Kitching & Cadiou 2000). Sequestration of toxic secondary plant compounds for protection against predators is apparently rare (Kitching &