Bedstraw hawk-moth
The bedstraw hawk-moth is a big, fast moth with olive brown front wings and a pale stripe down the middle. Its back wings have a pretty pink band. It hovers at flowers at dusk like a tiny hummingbird.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillar can grow 7 to 8 centimetres long and always has a red horn on its tail.
The caterpillar has a row of yellow eye-like spots along each side.
Some caterpillars are green and some are almost all black.
It can live high in the Alps, up to 2,700 metres up.
It turns into a brown pupa hidden in the sand.
Most asked questions about Bedstraw hawk-moth
?What does the bedstraw hawk-moth caterpillar eat?
Bedstraw and fireweed, and also plants like fuchsia and plantain.
?Is the bedstraw hawk-moth caterpillar dangerous?
No. Its red tail horn is just for show and cannot hurt you.
?How big is the bedstraw hawk-moth?
Its wings are about 5.5 to 8 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Hyles gallii
- Named by
- Rottemburg, 1775
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Galium sphinx
Where the facts come from
- Hyles gallii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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