Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Elephant Hawk-moth

Deilephila elpenor

Description:

The larva is about 75 millimetres (3.0 in) long, green and brown in colour. Like most hawk moth caterpillars, they have a backward curving spine or "horn" on the final abdominal segment. The anterior of the caterpillar appears to have the shape of a trunk-like snout. It is this elephant look, rather than its large size, that gives the moth its name. When startled, the caterpillar draws its trunk into its foremost body segment. This posture resembles a snake with a large head and four large eye-like patches. The imago (adult) feeds at night, and often takes nectar from garden plants like Honeysuckles (Lonicera) and petunias, so it is quite often seen in urban settings in the evening. The moth typically has a wing span of 50–70 mm (2.0–2.8 in). It is spectacularly coloured, seeming to shimmer with green and red when in motion.

Notes:

this chrysalis comes from the caterpillar I photographed earlier: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/156...

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

PatriciaPi
Spotted by
PatriciaPi

Calpe/Calp, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain

Spotted on Jan 21, 2013
Submitted on Jan 23, 2013

Related Spottings

Hawk moth caterpillar Elephant Hawk Moth Elephant Hawk-Moth Elephant Hawk-moth

Nearby Spottings

Spotting orb-weaving spider Old World Swallowtail plantpot dapperling
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team