Deilephila porcellus

Deilephila porcellus, the small elephant hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Small elephant hawk-moth
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Deilephila
Species:	D. porcellus
Binomial name
Deilephila porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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

Distribution

It is found in Europe, North Africa and West Asia.

Description

The wingspan is 45–51 millimetres (1.8–2.0 in). The moth flies from May to July depending on the location. The forewings 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 hindwings are blackish on their upper margin, pinkish on their 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. It is highly variable in colouration. In drier and warmer and arid areas of Asia Minor and Central Asia the pink colouration is absent. Form rosea Zerny is intermediate; f. indistincta Tutt is pinkish grey; f. suellus is yellowish sandy buff.

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  Deilephila porcellus ♂ MHNT
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  Deilephila porcellus ♂ △ MHNT
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  Deilephila porcellus ♀ MHNT
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  Deilephila porcellus ♀△ MHNT

The larva is greyish brown or darker grey, 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.

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  Caterpillar

Similar species

D. porcellus is often confused with Deilephila elpenor, the elephant hawk moth. D. porcellus is the smaller of the two species, and other characteristics in size and coloring can be used to distinguish between the two. For example, D. porcellus has more yellow around its body and lacks the thick pink stripe that goes down D. elpenor's abdomen.

Ecology

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

External links

• Kimber, Ian. "69.017 BF1992 Small Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758)". UKMoths. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
• Description in Richard South's The Moths of the British Isles
• Lepiforum e.V.