Poplar Hawkmoth

Laothoe populi · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae

Also called: Poplar Hawk-Moth

Damages trees, gardens or crops. The larvae feed on poplar, willow, aspen and other trees, so they can damage those plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Poplar Hawkmoth
Photo: A Dearheart, CC BY-SA

The poplar hawkmoth is a large moth with a wingspan of about 70 to 100 mm. Adults are seen from May to August and the species overwinters as a pupa in the soil near its host plants.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The forewings are grey with darker bands and often have a buffish tone, especially in females. A distinctive white spot is present at the distal edge of the forewing cell.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 70 to 100 mm (2.8 to 3.9 in).

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae are green and feed on leaves of poplar, willow, aspen and several other trees.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

One or two generations are produced each year. The species overwinters as a pupa in an earthen cell 2 to 3 cm below the soil surface near its host plant.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Adults can be seen from May through August.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range covers the Palearctic and Near East areas.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It lacks a frenulum joining the wings and resembles a cluster of dead poplar leaves. When mated with the eyed hawkmoth, hybrids can appear with eye spots on the hindwings.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New Jersey.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

More photos

Poplar Hawkmoth photo 3
Photo: Donald Hobern, CC BY

Same family (Sphingidae)

White-lined SphinxWhite-lined SphinxHyles lineataDamages trees, gardens or cropsEurasian Hummingbird HawkmothEurasian Hummingbird HawkmothMacroglossum stellatarumSnowberry ClearwingSnowberry ClearwingHemaris diffinisCarolina SphinxCarolina SphinxManduca sextaDamages trees, gardens or cropsHummingbird ClearwingHummingbird ClearwingHemaris thysbeDamages trees, gardens or cropsElephant HawkmothElephant HawkmothDeilephila elpenor

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_hawkmoth

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.