# Oleander Hawkmoth

*Daphnis nerii*

The caterpillars feature brilliant blue, false 'eyespots' on their thorax to mimic small snakes and terrify potential predators.

- **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.

## About

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 .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/24915762-9d0e-4459-ba35-56955bf1c938
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/51996
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis nerii
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/729634/medium.jpg (Sascha Kohlmann, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.