''Hippotion celerio'', the vine hawk-moth or silver-striped hawk-moth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, bu ...

. It was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Distribution

It is found in Africa and central and southern Asia of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and, as a migrant in southern Europe and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

The forewing is typically long. Hippotion celerio MHNT CUT 2010 0 73 Noumea male dorsal.jpg, Male Hippotion celerio MHNT CUT 2010 0 73 Noumea male ventral.jpg, Male underside Hippotion celerio MHNT CUT 2010 0 73 Malaysia female dorsal.jpg, Female Hippotion celerio MHNT CUT 2010 0 73 Malaysia female ventral.jpg, Female underside

Colouring and marks

The body and

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwin ...

of the adult moth are green and ochre. They have silvery white dots and streaks, with a silvery band running obliquely on the forewing. The

hindwing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwi ...

is red near its lower angle ( tornus) to pinkish over other parts of the wing. It is crossed by a black bar and black veins. There is greater variation. In f. ''pallida'' Tutt the ground coloration is a pale terracotta ground; in f. ''rosea'' Closs, the wings have a red suffusion; in f. ''brunnea'' Tutt, the suffusion is deep brown. In f. ''augustei'' Trimoul, the black markings cover the entire wings; in f. ''luecki'' Closs, all silver markings are absent and in f. ''sieberti'' Closs, the forewing oblique stripe is yellowish, not silver.

Similar species

*'' Hippotion osiris'' larger size and lacks the black venation on the hindwing. *''

Hippotion aporodes ''Hippotion aporodes'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from forests from Ivory Coast to the Congo Basin and Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by ...

'' may be only a very dark subspecies of ''celerio'' - in this form, the silvery streak on the forewing is not present but other markings are intensified. In addition, the hindwing is mainly brownish.

Biology

Larva

Larvae may be green, yellowish green or even brown. They have a dark broken mid-dorsal line and a creamy dorso-lateral line from the fifth segment to the horn. The head is round, and usually a dull green colour. The larva has a horn which is usually long and straight. There is a large yellow and green eyespot on the third segment and a smaller one on the fourth segment. Larvae typically feed on the leaves of plants such as the

grape vine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

, ''

Cissus ''Cissus'' is a genus of approximately 350 species of lianas (Woody plant, woody vines) in the grape family (Vitaceae). They have a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority are to be found in the tropics. Uses Medicinal ''Cissus quadrang ...

'', ''

Impatiens ''Impatiens'' is a genus of more than 1,000 species of flowering plants, widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere and the tropics. Together with the genus ''Hydrocera'' (one species), ''Impatiens'' make up the family Balsaminaceae. ...

'' and the ''

Arum ''Arum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...

'' lily.

References

*Pinhey, E. (1962): ''Hawk Moths of Central and Southern Africa''. Longmans Southern Africa, Cape Town.

External links

Silver-striped Hawk-moth
at ''UKMoths'' *
''Lepiforum e.V.''
Hippotion Moths of Africa Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Moths of Oceania Moths of the Middle East Moths of Australia Moths of Borneo Moths of Cape Verde Moths of the Comoros Moths of Iceland Moths of Indonesia Moths of Japan Moths of Korea Moths of Madagascar Moths of Malaysia Moths of Mauritius Moths of New Guinea Moths of New Zealand Moths of Réunion Moths of Seychelles Moths described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Macroglossini-stub