''Daphnis nerii'', the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly 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, but species ar ...

. It was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

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

Distribution

''Daphnis nerii'' is a large hawk-moth found in wide areas of Africa, Asia and Hawaii. It is a migratory species, flying to parts of eastern and southern Europe during the summer, particularly Turkey, very occasionally reaching western Europe, including England and can even reach to as far north as Scotland Goater, B. (1974). ''The Butterflies and Moths of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (Being an Account of the Whole of the Lepidoptera)''. E. W. Classey Ltd., Berkshire. or even Finland.

Feeding habits

The adults feed on nectar of a great variety of flowers. They have a preference for fragrant species like

petunia ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial plan ...

jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

, periwinkle and

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...

. They are especially active in the twilight time, hovering over the flowers after sunset. The caterpillars feed mainly on oleander (''

Nerium oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), commonly known as oleander or rosebay, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the Monotypic taxon, only species currently classifi ...

'') leaves, a highly

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

plant, to which the caterpillars are immune. They also may feed on most other plants of the

dogbane Dogbane, dog-bane (plant), bane, dog's bane, and other variations, some of them regional and some transient, are names for certain plants that are reputed to kill or repel dogs; "Bane (plant), bane" originally meant "slayer", and was later appli ...

family, such as ''

Adenium obesum ''Adenium obesum'', more commonly known as a desert rose, is a poisonous species of flowering plant belonging to the tribe Nerieae of the subfamily Apocynoideae of the Apocynum, dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It is native plant, native to the Sahe ...

,'' ''

Tabernaemontana divaricata ''Tabernaemontana divaricata'', commonly called pinwheel flower, crape jasmine, East India rosebay, and Nero's crown, is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. In zones where it is not hardy it is grown a ...

'' and ''

Alstonia scholaris ''Alstonia scholaris'', commonly called blackboard tree, scholar tree, milkwood or devil's tree in English, is an evergreen tree in the oleander and frangipani family Apocynaceae. Its natural range is from Pakistan to China, and south to northe ...

'' in India. They also eat unbloomed flowers of ''

'' at night. In England, where the species is one of the rarest migrant hawk-moths, a larva was discovered feeding on periwinkle ''

Vinca minor ''Vinca minor'' (common names lesser periwinkle or dwarf periwinkle) is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, native to central and southern Europe. Other vernacular names used in cultivation include small periwinkle, common peri ...

''.

Biology

The adult has a greenish head, with rufous in front and a grey band on the vertex. The thorax is green, and the collar outlined in grey. There is a triangular grey patch on the vertex. Abdomen is pale greenish with oblique lines at the side paired dark green lateral blotches on the penultimate segment and a single dorsal blotch on the ultimate segment. Forewings are dark green and a white patch with a black spot on it at base. Some medial whitish conjoined bands, rosy towards the hind margin. There is a triangular purplish patch from below the cell to near outer margin. Hindwings are fuscous with a pale curved submarginal line, beyond which the area is olivaceus. Ventral side is suffused with chestnut colour and a white submarginal line on both wings. A white speck is present at the end of the hindwing. Eggs of Oleander Hawk Moth

Newly hatched oleander hawk-moth larvae are three to four millimeters in length, bright yellow, and have a black, elongated "horn" on the rear of the body. As they get older, the larvae become green to brown with a large blue-and-white eyespot near the head and a yellow "horn" on the rear. There is also a white band along the side of the body, with a scattering of small white and bluish dots alongside it. The spiracles on the sides of the body are black. Older oleander hawk-moth larvae measure around 7.5 to 8.5 centimetres in length. Just before it pupates, the oleander hawk-moth larva becomes browner in colour. The pupa of this species measures around 5.5 to 7.5 centimetres in length, and is light brown with black spots and a black line down the middle. The

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

is pale reddish or brownish white and has a wax-like appearance. It lies directly on the earth, under

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

or dry leaves. File:OHM caterpillar.jpg, Caterpillar feeding on a pinwheel flower plant at

Udumalpet Udumalaipettai also known as Udumalai, is a town in Tiruppur district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 535 km (332 mi) south west from the state capital, Chennai and 72 km (45 ...

, Tamil Nadu, India File:Oleander hawk moth caterpillar eating.jpg, Oleander hawk moth caterpillar eating File:Oleander hawk moth caterpillar.jpg, The eye spots probably reduce predation. File:Daphnis.jpg, Near

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India File:ArmyGreenMoth3.jpg,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

File:Daphnis nerii caterpillar 02.jpg, Caterpillar File:Oleander Hawk-moth or Army Green Moth Caterpillar at Behala Kolkata.jpg, Caterpillar at

Behala Behala is a locality of South West Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Behala is a part of Kolkata Municipal Corporation area. It is broadly spread across Ward Numbers: 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, ...

, Kolkata File:Oleander Hawk Moth caterpillar just before pupation.jpg, Caterpillar just before pupating File:Oleander hawkmoth pupa.jpg, Pupa File:Daphnis Nerii Caterpillar 20130715123724.jpg, Caterpillar Daphnis nerii MHNT CUT 2010 0 290 Aurangabad Maharashtra India male dorsal.jpg, Male dorsal view Daphnis nerii MHNT CUT 2010 0 290 Aurangabad Maharashtra India male ventral.jpg, Male ventral view

Related species

*'' Daphnis hypothous'', found in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and Southeast Asia. Distinguished by a white spot at the forewing apex.

References

External links

Oleander Hawk-moth at ''UKMoths''
* Description in Richard South ''The Moths of the British Isles''
''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q1137159 Daphnis (moth) Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Africa Moths of the Comoros Moths of Japan Moths of Madagascar Moths of Mauritius Moths of Réunion Moths of Seychelles Moths of Asia Moths of the Middle East Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus