Sphingidae assemblages of a highland humid forest (brejo) and a caatinga area were studied from specimens collected with light traps, during twelve months (March, 2000 to February, 2001), with the objective of knowing the diversity and establishing some parameters aiming at monitoring of these areas. Nineteen species were collected, fifteen from brejo and fourteen from caatinga. Ten species are common to both areas, five were collected only in brejo and four in caatinga. Callionima grisescens elegans (Gehlen, 1935) was the most abundant species in two areas. The distribution of species abundance in brejo follows the truncated log normal model. In caatinga the distribution pattern of abundance was not discriminated by the chi2 test, although indirect evidence indicates a tendency to the log series model. The assemblage structure (parameters) was estimated from the diversity indices. In brejo, where the eveness was larger, Shannon and Brillouin indices surpass those from caatinga. In this location, Simpson and Berger-Parker indices are much higher due to a larger dominance. The population fluctuation for both Sphingidae assemblages, shows that their populations are affected by rain distribution during the year, or more precisely, by the period of water replacement in the soil, as demonstrated by the water balance.
Diversity measures; light trap; water balance
