Elephant hawk moth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Image:ElephantHawkMoth.jpg Elephant hawk moth
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| Deilephila elpenor Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Elephant Hawk Moth (Deilephila elpenor) is a large hawk moth, with a wing span typically between 50 and 70 mm. It is spectacularly coloured, seeming to shimmer with green and red when in motion. The larva is about 75mm long, green and brown in colour, and like most hawk moth caterpillars, having a backward curving spine or "horn" on the final segment. It has a trunk-like snout, and it is the elephant look this gives it, rather than its large size, that gives the moth its name. When startled, it draws its trunk into its foremost segment, which then looks like a large head with four large eye-like patches.
The imago tends to feed in the evening, and often takes nectar from garden plants like honeysuckles and petunias, so it is quite often seen in urban settings. The preferred food plants of the caterpillar are willowherb and bedstraw, though it will also take fuchsias. The species is found throughout Britain and Ireland except for the north and east of Scotland, and its range extends across Europe, Russia, and into China, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Korea (though not Taiwan). Introduced specimens have been found in British Columbia. In most of their range, the adults are seen from May to July and the caterpillars from July to September, when they pupate; however in some parts of the Mediterranean and of China the adults may be seen from April on, and some will have two broods in a year.
The adult moths are eaten by some species of bats, and the caterpillars by birds and occasionally cats.
Two subspecies, Deilephila elpenor elpenor and D. e. lewisii, were recognised in the past, but they are no longer regarded as well distinguished. Similarly the subspecies D. e. szechuana is now thought to be a synonym for D. e. elpenor. The subspecies D. e. macromera, found in southern China, northern India, Bhutan and Myanmar, is still regarded as distinct.
The related species, the Small Elephant Hawk Moth (Deilephila porcellus) and Chitral Elephant Hawk Moth (D. rivularis) are similar but smaller and less colourful.
[edit] External links
- Genus and species account from A. R. Pittaway's authoritative "Spingidae of the Western Palaearctic" site.
- More images from the UK Virtual Field Guidecs:Lišaj vrbkový
de:Mittlerer Weinschwärmer fr:Grand sphinx de la vigne lt:Pievinis sfinksas nl:Groot avondrood
