Originally Posted by atronox
Indeed the Elephant Hawkmoth is placed in Deilephila, as was nerii until quite recently.
One must remember that as yet higher taxonomy, i.e. understanding lineage, has been a rather haphazard process, and in reality still is, even with the advent of molecular techniques. Most analyses undertaken do not involve the complete range of species within a particular group, whether it be the genus, subtribe, tribe or even higher ranks, simply due to the numbers of species involved and their distributions being such that it becomes almost impossible to obtain sufficient material to undertake a complete analysis. The end result is that stability in Lepidopteran taxonomy has yet to be achieved, even for relatively well known groups like the Sphingidae.
cheers, Roger.
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