Vine Hawkmoth

Hippotion celerio · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Sphingidae

Also called: Grapevine Hawkmoth, Silver-striped Hawkmoth, Silverstripe Hawkmoth

Damages trees, gardens or crops. The caterpillars can chew the leaves of grape vines and other garden plants, so they may damage gardens and crops.

Source: Wikipedia

Vine Hawkmoth
Photo: Donald Hobern, CC BY

Adult Vine Hawkmoths have green-ochre bodies and forewings with silvery spots, streaks and an oblique silver band. Their forewings measure about 28 to 45 mm long, and they occur across Africa, parts of Asia, and as migrants in southern Europe and Australia.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The moth’s body and front wings are green-ochre with silvery white dots, streaks and a slanted silver band.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Forewing length ranges from roughly 28 mm to 45 mm (about 1.1 to 1.8 in).

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Caterpillars feed on leaves of grape vines, Cissus, Impatiens and Arum lily.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range covers Africa and central-southern Asia, with occasional migrations to southern Europe and Australia.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Hippotion osiris is larger and lacks the black wing-vein pattern on the hindwing. Hippotion aporodes may be a very dark form of celerio; it usually lacks the silvery forewing streak but has stronger overall markings.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Vine Hawkmoth photo 3
Photo: Angelo Tsirekas, CC BY
Vine Hawkmoth photo 4
Photo: Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias, CC BY
Vine Hawkmoth photo 5
Photo: Birgit E. Rhode, Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd, CC BY

Questions people ask

Do Vine Hawkmoth caterpillars damage garden plants?

Yes, the larvae chew the leaves of grape vines and other garden species such as Cissus, Impatiens and Arum lily.

Source: Wikipedia

How big are adult Vine Hawkmoths?

Their forewings are about 28 to 45 mm long (1.1 to 1.8 in).

Source: Wikipedia

Where might I see a Vine Hawkmoth?

They are found in Africa, central and southern Asia, and occasionally migrate to southern Europe and Australia.

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/Hippotion_celerio

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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