Oleander Hawkmoth
Daphnis nerii
The caterpillars feature brilliant blue, false 'eyespots' on their thorax to mimic small snakes and terrify potential predators.
- Scientific name
- Daphnis nerii
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Sphingidae › Daphnis
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Warm hillsides, river valleys, suburban gardens, and parks containing oleander plants.
- Diet
- Adults feed on nectar from sweet-smelling flowers like honeysuckle, petunia, and jasmine; caterpillars feed on toxic Oleander and Periwinkle leaves.
- Range
- Southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East, India, Southeast Asia
- Size
- Wingspan of 80 to 120 mm (3.1 to 4.7 inches)
- Lifespan
- 10 to 30 days as an adult
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Widespread pesticide use in urban gardens and loss of larval host plants.
- Safe to approach?
- Completely harmless. If you encounter this moth, observe its remarkable hovering flight from a safe distance of 1 to 2 feet. Do not touch its wings, as handling can rub off the delicate, protective scales. If one enters your home, gently guide it into a container and release it outside near night-blooming flowers.
Daphnis nerii , the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth , is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae .
Photo: Sascha Kohlmann, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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