Small Elephant Hawkmoth

Deilephila porcellus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae

Also called: Small Elephant Hawk-Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.

The small elephant hawkmoth has a wingspan of about 45 to 51 mm and shows ochre-brown forewings with pinkish edges and a pink band on the outer edge. It lives near coasts, heaths and meadow edges in Europe where Galium grows, and also in arid mountain forests or scrub in central Iran and Central Asia. The caterpillars eat Galium and Epilobium, and the adult moth is on the wing from May to July depending on location.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Forewings are ochre with a faint olive hue, edged and blotched with pink, plus a broad irregular pink band along the outer margin. Hindwings are dark along the upper edge, pink on the outer edge, and ochre-olive in between.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 45 to 51 mm (about 1.8 to 2.0 inches).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in European coastal areas, heaths and meadow edges where Galium grows. Also occurs in open, dry mountain forests or scrub in central Iran and Central Asia.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Caterpillars feed on plants of the Galium and Epilobium genera.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Adults are active and fly from May through July, timing varies by location.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Flight period is May to July, depending on where it lives.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range includes Europe, North Africa and West Asia.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It is often mistaken for the larger elephant hawk moth, Deilephila elpenor. The small elephant hawkmoth is the smaller species, and differences in size and colour help tell them apart.

Source: Wikipedia