Striped Hawkmoth

Hyles livornica · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae

Also called: Striped Hawk-Moth

Damages trees, gardens or crops. The striped hawkmoth’s caterpillars eat a wide range of garden and crop plants, so they can damage gardens and farms.

Source: Wikipedia

Striped Hawkmoth
Photo: Sandy Rae, CC BY

Adults have a wingspan of about 60 to 80 mm and show olive-brown forewings with white stripes and pink hindwings edged in black and white. They occur across Africa, southern Europe, Poland, Australia and central to east Asia and fly from early spring to autumn, often in two generations in Europe. The larvae feed on many plants such as Galium, cotton, grapes, Euphorbia and other garden species, which can make them a garden and crop pest.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Wingspan ranges from 60 to 80 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Caterpillars feed on many plants, including Galium, cotton, Rumex, grapes, Euphorbia, Linaria, Antirrhinum, Scabiosa, Linum, Fuchsia and Asphodelus.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

Adults are on the wing from February to October, varying by location. In Europe they appear in two generations, April-June and August-September, and may overwinter.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

Flight period spans February to October, with European activity in spring and late summer.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

It belongs to the hawk-moth family Sphingidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Questions people ask

Can they damage my garden?

Yes, the caterpillars feed on many garden and crop plants, so they can cause noticeable damage.

Source: Wikipedia

When are they active?

Adults fly from early spring to autumn, typically April-June and August-September in Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

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/Hyles_livornica

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.

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