Hyles euphorbiae

Spurge hawk-moth
Adult
Larva
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Hyles
Species:	H. euphorbiae
Binomial name
Hyles euphorbiae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
List Sphinx euphorbiaeLinnaeus, 1758 Sphinx esulaeHufnagel, 1766 Deilephila esulaeBoisduval, 1834 Celerio euphorbiae conspicuaRothschild & Jordan, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae giganteomaculataGehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae nigrofasciataIgel, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae decolorata(Closs, 1913) Celerio euphorbiae cyparissiaeSchultz, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae cyaneaWladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae conspicuataBandermann, 1926 Celerio euphorbiae confusa(Wladasch, 1939) Celerio euphorbiae clossiHannemann, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae cleopatra(Wladasch, 1931) Celerio euphorbiae clementiaeBayard, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae canarinaWladasch, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae caecigenaBandermann, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae brunnescensSchultz, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae bilineaSchultz, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae bandermanniWladasch, 1933 Celerio euphorbiae atrolimbataDannehl, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae argustanaBandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae apiciplagaGehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae annellataCloss, 1915 Celerio euphorbiae angustefasciata(Villarrubia, 1974) Celerio euphorbiae ancestralis(Wladasch, 1939) Celerio euphorbiae albicans(Closs, 1917) Celerio euphorbiae demaculataSchultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae dolomiticolaStauder, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae effuscata(Wladasch, 1939) Celerio euphorbiae ellianaBandermann, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae ernataBandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae farinata(Wladasch, 1931) Celerio euphorbiae filapjewiO. Bang-Haas, 1936 Celerio euphorbiae flaveolaBandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae flavidiorSohn-Rethel, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae galiataBandermann, 1934 Celerio euphorbiae grentzenbergi-ziczacWladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae grisea(Closs, 1911) Celerio euphorbiae grisearubea-saumoneaeWladasch, 1933 Celerio euphorbiae griseonymphaBandermann, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae heliophila(Wladasch, 1941) Celerio euphorbiae iliaBandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae incarnateWladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae jachani(Closs, 1921) Celerio euphorbiae krombachi(Closs, 1917) Celerio euphorbiae latefasciata(Vilarrubia, 1974) Celerio euphorbiae latefasciataSchultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae lilacinaWladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae lucidaDerzhavets, 1980 Celerio euphorbiae minor(Vilarrubia, 1974) Celerio euphorbiae multicolor(Wladasch, 1931) Celerio euphorbiae nebulosaGehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae nigerrimaGehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae nigraGehlen, 1932 Celerio euphorbiae nigrescensRothschild & Jordan, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae nigricansCloss, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae nymphaeaBandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae olivacea(Closs, 1917) Celerio euphorbiae pallidaCloss, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae perfulvaSchultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae philippsiBandermann, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae restrictaRothschild & Jordan, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae roseataBandermann, 1931 Celerio euphorbiae rothschildiStauder, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae rubescens-mediofasciata-olivaceaWladasch, 1933 Celerio euphorbiae rudolfiBandermann, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae rufomelanaTutt, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae rühliiBandermann, 1915 Celerio euphorbiae silesianaWladasch, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae sinensisCloss, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae strasillaiStauder, 1921 Celerio euphorbiae suareziAgenjo, 1952 Celerio euphorbiae subiacensisDannehl, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae subvittataSchultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae suffusaTutt, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae sulphurataBandermann, 1925 Celerio euphorbiae testataWladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae typica-latifoleiWladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae umbrataGehlen, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae unimaculaCloss, 1915 Celerio euphorbiae vandalusicaRibbe, 1910 Celerio euphorbiae variegataCloss, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae viereckanaBandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae vinacea-reducta(Wladasch, 1941) Celerio euphorbiae virescensGehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae viverina(Denso, 1908) Celerio euphorbiae zableriBandermann, 1934 Celerio euphorbiae ziczacFritsch, 1912 Deilephila euphorbiae aczeliBezsilla, 1943 Deilephila euphorbiae coniunctaLütkemeyer, 1920 Deilephila euphorbiae cuspidataRebel, 1908 Deilephila euphorbiae defectaBartel, 1902 Deilephila euphorbiae etruscaVerity, 1911 Deilephila euphorbiae grentzenbergiStaudinger, 1885 Deilephila euphorbiae helioscopiae(de Selys-Longchamp, 1857) Deilephila euphorbiae krancheriBandermann, 1916 Deilephila euphorbiae lafitoliiThierry-Mieg, 1889 Deilephila euphorbiae mediofasciataMayer, 1907 Deilephila euphorbiae mosanaLambillion, 1908 Deilephila euphorbiae nigerrimaSälzl, 1924 Deilephila euphorbiae oberthueriBandermann, 1931 Deilephila euphorbiae paraliasNickerl, 1837 Deilephila euphorbiae rubescensGarbowski, 1892 Hyles euphorbiae gönneriBandermann, 1915

Hyles euphorbiae, the spurge hawk-moth, is a European moth of the family Sphingidae. This hawk moth is used as an agent of biological pest control against the noxious weed leafy spurge (Euphorbia virgata), but usually only in conjunction with other agents. ^[1] The larvae consume the leaves and bracts of the plant. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Description

The Spurge Hawk-Moth - Fore wings grey, with an almost square olive-brown blotch; at the base another olive-brown blotch near the middle, and a long oblique band of the same colour, commencing in a point at the extreme apex of the wing, and gradually growing wider until it reaches the margin, where it is very broad: hind wings pink, with a black blotch at the base, and a black band half-way between this black blotch and the margin, and a snowy-white blotch at the anal angle: thorax and body olive-brown, with a white line on each side of the thorax just at the base of the wings; this line runs on each side along the head just above the eye, and the two meet at the nose; the body has on each side at the base two square black spots and two square white spots, and beyond them, nearer the apex, and also on each side, are three white lines.

The caterpillar is smooth and black, with innumerable whitish dots; there are also eleven large spots of the same colour arrayed in a row on each side of the back, and beneath these as many spots of the same size and of a bright coral-red colour; the head is of the same coral-red colour, and a line of the same colour runs all along the back, from the head to the horn; the horn is red at the base and black at the tip. It feeds on sea-spurge.

The chrysalis is pale brown and delicately lined and dotted with black in the manner of network; it buries itself in the loose dry sand on the sea coast.

The eggs are covered with liquid gum, which enables them to stick on the small leaves of the spurge. In a fortnight these hatch and produce little black caterpillars; the white and red spots appear as the caterpillar increases in size, and in a few weeks it becomes a most beautiful object, and so conspicuous as to attract the sea-gulls and terns, which devour them in numbers. We have never had the pleasure of finding either the caterpillar or perfect moth. Our description of the caterpillar is taken from the Entomological Magazine.

• 
  Egg
• 
  Larva
• 
  Male, dorsal side
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  Male, ventral side
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  Female, dorsal side
• 
  Female, ventral side

Subspecies

• Hyles euphorbiae euphorbiae
• Hyles euphorbiae conspicua(Rothschild & Jordan, 1903) (Middle East)

References

 This article incorporates text from a free content work.Licensed under public domain.Text taken from An Illustrated Natural History of British Moths​ , Edward Newman ,Hardwicke and Bogue.

1. Coombs, Eric M.; Clark, Janet K.; Piper, Gary L.; Cofrancesco, Jr., Alfred F., eds. (2004). Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. p. 254. ISBN   9780870710292.

External links

• Spurge Hawk-moth UKMoths
• Lepiforum e.V.
• Vlindernet.nl (in Dutch)