Deilephila porcellus

Small elephant hawk-moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Deilephila
Species:	D. porcellus
Binomial name
Deilephila porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758)[1]
Synonyms
Sphinx porcellus Linnaeus, 1758 Theretra porcellus clara Tutt, 1904 Pergesa porcellus wesloeensis Knoch, 1929 Pergesa porcellus sus O. Bang-Haas, 1927 Pergesa porcellus sinkiangensis Chu & Wang, 1980 Pergesa porcellus rosea Zerny, 1933 Pergesa porcellus porca O. Bang-Haas, 1927 Pergesa porcellus kuruschi O. Bang-Haas, 1938 Pergesa porcellus flavocincta Wize, 1917 Pergesa porcellus cingulata O. Bang-Haas, 1934 Metopsilus porcellus galbana Gillmer, 1910 Metopsilus porcellus colossus A. Bang-Haas, 1906 Eumorpha porcellus gissarodarvasica Shchetkin, 1981 Deilephila porcellus warneckei Capuse, 1963 Deilephila porcellus suellus Staudinger, 1878 Deilephila porcellus songoricus Eitschberger & Lukhtanov, 1996 Deilephila porcellus sibirica Eitschberger & Zolotuhin, 1997 Deilephila porcellus kashgoulii Ebert, 1976 Deilephila porcellus decolor Cockayne, 1953 Choerocampa porcellus lutescens Cockerell, 1887

Deilephila porcellus, known as the small elephant hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia.

Deilephila porcellus - MHNT

Caterpillar

The wingspan is 45–51 millimetres (1.8–2.0 in). The moth flies from May to July depending on the location.The fore wings are ochreous with a faint olive tinge; the front margin is edged and blotched with pinkish, and there is a broad but irregular band of the same colour on the outer margin. The hind wings blackish on upper margin, pinkish on outer margin, and ochreous tinged with olive between. The fringes are chequered whitish, sometimes tinged with pink. The head, thorax, and body are pinkish, more or less variegated with olive; the thorax has a patch of white hairs above the base of the wings. Highly variable in colouration. In drier and warmer and arid areas of Asia Minor and Central Asia the pink colouration is absent. f. rosea Zerny is intermediate, f. indistincta Tutt,is pinkish grey, f. suellus is yellowish sandy buff.

The larva is greyish brown or darker grey in colour, merging into yellowish brown on the front rings. The head is greyer than the body. The usual sphingid horn is absent, and in its place there is a double wart.In the early instars the caterpillar is pale greyish green with blackish bristles, and the head and under surface are yellowish.

The larvae feed on Galium and Epilobium.

Ecology

In Europe coastal areas, heaths and meadowland edges where Galium is present. Up to 1600m in the Alps and Spain but in North Africa, Turkey up to 2000m.In central Iran and Central Asia open, arid montane forest, or scrub. Usually found at 2000m. to 2500m.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deilephila porcellus.

• Deilephila porcellus, European Butterflies and Moths
• Deilephila porcellus, UKmoths
• Extreme close-up photo
• Description in Richard South The Moths of the British Isles