Hyles euphorbiae

Spurge hawk-moth
Adult
Larva
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Sphingidae
Genus:	Hyles
Species:	H. euphorbiae
Binomial name
Hyles euphorbiae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
List Sphinx euphorbiae Linnaeus, 1758 Sphinx esulae Hufnagel, 1766 Deilephila esulae Boisduval, 1834 Celerio euphorbiae conspicua Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae giganteomaculata Gehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae nigrofasciata Igel, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae decolorata (Closs, 1913) Celerio euphorbiae cyparissiae Schultz, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae cyanea Wladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae conspicuata Bandermann, 1926 Celerio euphorbiae confusa (Wladasch, 1939) Celerio euphorbiae clossi Hannemann, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae cleopatra (Wladasch, 1931) Celerio euphorbiae clementiae Bayard, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae canarina Wladasch, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae caecigena Bandermann, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae brunnescens Schultz, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae bilinea Schultz, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae bandermanni Wladasch, 1933 Celerio euphorbiae atrolimbata Dannehl, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae argustana Bandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae apiciplaga Gehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae annellata Closs, 1915 Celerio euphorbiae angustefasciata (Villarrubia, 1974) Celerio euphorbiae ancestralis (Wladasch, 1939) Celerio euphorbiae albicans (Closs, 1917) Celerio euphorbiae demaculata Schultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae dolomiticola Stauder, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae effuscata (Wladasch, 1939) Celerio euphorbiae elliana Bandermann, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae ernata Bandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae farinata (Wladasch, 1931) Celerio euphorbiae filapjewi O. Bang-Haas, 1936 Celerio euphorbiae flaveola Bandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae flavidior Sohn-Rethel, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae galiata Bandermann, 1934 Celerio euphorbiae grentzenbergi-ziczac Wladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae grisea (Closs, 1911) Celerio euphorbiae grisearubea-saumoneae Wladasch, 1933 Celerio euphorbiae griseonympha Bandermann, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae heliophila (Wladasch, 1941) Celerio euphorbiae ilia Bandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae incarnate Wladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae jachani (Closs, 1921) Celerio euphorbiae krombachi (Closs, 1917) Celerio euphorbiae latefasciata (Vilarrubia, 1974) Celerio euphorbiae latefasciata Schultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae lilacina Wladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae lucida Derzhavets, 1980 Celerio euphorbiae minor (Vilarrubia, 1974) Celerio euphorbiae multicolor (Wladasch, 1931) Celerio euphorbiae nebulosa Gehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae nigerrima Gehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae nigra Gehlen, 1932 Celerio euphorbiae nigrescens Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae nigricans Closs, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae nymphaea Bandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae olivacea (Closs, 1917) Celerio euphorbiae pallida Closs, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae perfulva Schultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae philippsi Bandermann, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae restricta Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Celerio euphorbiae roseata Bandermann, 1931 Celerio euphorbiae rothschildi Stauder, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae rubescens-mediofasciata-olivacea Wladasch, 1933 Celerio euphorbiae rudolfi Bandermann, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae rufomelana Tutt, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae rühlii Bandermann, 1915 Celerio euphorbiae silesiana Wladasch, 1924 Celerio euphorbiae sinensis Closs, 1917 Celerio euphorbiae strasillai Stauder, 1921 Celerio euphorbiae suarezi Agenjo, 1952 Celerio euphorbiae subiacensis Dannehl, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae subvittata Schultz, 1911 Celerio euphorbiae suffusa Tutt, 1904 Celerio euphorbiae sulphurata Bandermann, 1925 Celerio euphorbiae testata Wladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae typica-latifolei Wladasch, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae umbrata Gehlen, 1929 Celerio euphorbiae unimacula Closs, 1915 Celerio euphorbiae vandalusica Ribbe, 1910 Celerio euphorbiae variegata Closs, 1913 Celerio euphorbiae viereckana Bandermann, 1928 Celerio euphorbiae vinacea-reducta (Wladasch, 1941) Celerio euphorbiae virescens Gehlen, 1930 Celerio euphorbiae viverina (Denso, 1908) Celerio euphorbiae zableri Bandermann, 1934 Celerio euphorbiae ziczac Fritsch, 1912 Deilephila euphorbiae aczeli Bezsilla, 1943 Deilephila euphorbiae coniuncta Lütkemeyer, 1920 Deilephila euphorbiae cuspidata Rebel, 1908 Deilephila euphorbiae defecta Bartel, 1902 Deilephila euphorbiae etrusca Verity, 1911 Deilephila euphorbiae grentzenbergi Staudinger, 1885 Deilephila euphorbiae helioscopiae (de Selys-Longchamp, 1857) Deilephila euphorbiae krancheri Bandermann, 1916 Deilephila euphorbiae lafitolii Thierry-Mieg, 1889 Deilephila euphorbiae mediofasciata Mayer, 1907 Deilephila euphorbiae mosana Lambillion, 1908 Deilephila euphorbiae nigerrima Sälzl, 1924 Deilephila euphorbiae oberthueri Bandermann, 1931 Deilephila euphorbiae paralias Nickerl, 1837 Deilephila euphorbiae rubescens Garbowski, 1892 Hyles euphorbiae gönneri Bandermann, 1915

Hyles euphorbiae, the spurge hawk-moth, is a European moth of the family Sphingidae. It has been found in Pontresina, Switzerland (1,805 m (5,922 ft) above sea level).^{[citation needed]} 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)