''Agrius convolvuli'', the convolvulus hawk-moth, is a large hawk-moth. It is common throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, partly as a migrant. In New Zealand, it is also known as the kumara moth, and in the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

as hīhue.

Description and habits

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is . This hawkmoth's basic coloration is in grayish tones, but the abdomen has a broad gray dorsal stripe and pink and black bands edged with white on the sides. The hindwings are light gray with darker broad crosslines. Agrius convolvuli - MHNT CUT 2010 0 470 - Gironde France - Male dorsal.jpg, ♂ Agrius convolvuli - MHNT CUT 2010 0 470 - Gironde France - Male ventral.jpg, ♂ △ Agrius convolvuli - MHNT CUT 2010 0 470 - Gironde France - Female dorsal.jpg, ♀ Agrius convolvuli - MHNT CUT 2010 0 470 - Gironde France - Female ventral.jpg, ♀ △ Its favourite time is around sunset and during the twilight, when it is seen in gardens hovering over the flowers. This moth is very attracted to light, so it is often killed by cars on highways. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of the '' Convolvulus'', hence its

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name "convolvuli". Other recorded food plants include a wide range of plants in the families

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

, Convolvulaceae,

Leguminosae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

and

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

. It can be a pest of cultivated '' Ipomoea batatas'' (sweet potato or kūmara) in New Zealand and the Pacific. It feeds on the wing and has a very long

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

(longer than its body) that enables it to feed on long trumpet-like flowers such as '' Nicotiana sylvestris''. The caterpillars can be in a number of different colours. As well as brown (pictured below) they have been seen in bright green and black.

Similar species

''A. convolvuli'' is unmistakable in the eastern area of distribution, in the western area of distribution it can be mistaken for '' Agrius cingulata''. This species, found mainly in South and Central America, is repeatedly detected on the western shores of Europe. ''Agrius cingulata'' can be distinguished on the basis of the clearly stronger pink colouring of the abdominal segments and a similarly coloured rear wing base. In addition, ''Agrius convolvuli'' form ''pseudoconvolvuli'' Schaufuss, 1870 has some resemblance with North American species in the genus '' Manduca'', for instance '' Manduca sexta''.

Gallery

File:Agrius convoluli variation sjh.JPG, ''Agrius convoluli'' variation File:Agrius convolvuli korseby.jpeg, Larva of ''Agrius convolvuli'' File:Agrius convolvuli LC0286.jpg, Larva of ''Agrius convolvuli'' File:Windenschwärmer Puppe Erdkokon.jpg, Pupa of ''Agrius convolvuli'' Convolvulus hawk-moth (Agrius convolvuli).jpg, Feeding in flight Convolvulus hawk-moth (Agrius convolvuli) 2.jpg, Showing length of proboscis
Both near Rila Monastery,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

References

External links

*
Convolvulus Hawk-moth
at ''UKMoths'' * Description in Richard South ''The Moths of the British Isles''
''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrius Convolvuli Agrius (moth) Moths described in 1758 Moths of Africa Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of Oceania Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus