Samplings were performed from July 2012 to June 2013, in twelve monthly expeditions to the Boraceia Biological Station (Estação Biológica de Boraceia-EBB), Salesópolis, São Paulo. Hawkmoths were attracted using outdoor light bulbs of one of the EBB's houses, during four consecutive nights, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Each individual's collecting time and sex were registered, as well as climatic data every half hour. Specimens were taken to the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP), where they were identified to species and counted. Diversity analyses included rarefaction curve, richness estimator, descriptive graphics of composition, evenness, richness and abundance (by month and time of sampling), and multivariate statistics. Graphics of richness and abundance by temperature and relative humidity were constructed to assess the effect of these climatic variables on sampling, and the influence of fog and rainfall was examined by applying the Mann-Whitney test. Qui-square tests were performed to check whether the sex ratio differed from 1:1, in totality, by month and by time of sampling. Hawkmoths collected in the EBB since 1940 are available at MZUSP. They were identified and counted for elaboration of a historical overview of the local sphingofauna, and to allow comparison between an intense sampling carried out from 1948 to 1950 in the EBB and the recent sampling. This comparison was performed by means of rarefaction curves, descriptive graphics of richness and composition, and multivariate statistics. All species ever recorded in the EBB were photographed for the production of an illustrated guide. In the present study, a total of 2,509 hawkmoths, belonging to 64 species, were collected. Three of these species corresponded to new records for the EBB, and the list of species recorded in the Station reached the amount of 81. The rainiest and hottest months showed the highest richness, abundances and evenness. The species composition maintained relatively homogeneous during these months but it largely varied during the driest months; this pattern was also noticed in the sampling from 1948 to 1950. Abundance and richness decreased throughout the night, and the species composition underwent many changes. Higher temperatures, fog and rainfall were favorable to hawkmoth sampling. Sex ratio was generally skewed toward males. No significant difference in richness was found between the former and the recent sampling, but many species were recorded in only one of them. Comparisons with surveys on other sphingofaunas showed that some possibly rare species occur in the EBB and that this locality holds one of the highest Sphingidae richness in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest.
