Hippotion celerio, the vine hawk-moth or silver-striped hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
| Hippotion celerio | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Sphingidae |
| Genus: | Hippotion |
| Species: | H. celerio
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| Binomial name | |
| Hippotion celerio | |
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Distribution edit
It is found in Africa and central and southern Asia of India, Sri Lanka and, as a migrant in southern Europe and Australia.
Description edit
The forewing is typically 28–35 millimetres (1.1–1.4 in) long.
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Male -
Male underside -
Female -
Female underside
Colouring and marks edit
The body and forewing of the adult moth are green and ochre. They have silvery white dots and streaks, with a silvery band running obliquely on the forewing. The hindwing is red near its lower angle (tornus) to pinkish over other parts of the wing. It is crossed by a black bar and black veins. There is greater variation. In f. pallida Tutt the ground coloration is a pale terracotta ground; in f. rosea Closs, the wings have a red suffusion; in f. brunnea Tutt, the suffusion is deep brown. In f. augustei Trimoul, the black markings cover the entire wings; in f. luecki Closs, all silver markings are absent and in f. sieberti Closs, the forewing oblique stripe is yellowish, not silver.
Similar species edit
- Hippotion osiris larger size and lacks the black venation on the hindwing.
- Hippotion aporodes may be only a very dark subspecies of celerio - in this form, the silvery streak on the forewing is not present but other markings are intensified. In addition, the hindwing is mainly brownish.
Head and thorax as in eson; abdomen with a white spot on each segment between the dorsal white lines; a pair of silvery lateral strigae on each segment. Fore wing paler; some silvery streaks on the median nervure; the nervules beyond the cell streaked with silvery white and black; a silvery-white line from apex to near base of inner margin, followed by some ochreous and pale brown lines; a white submarginal line; the markings are thus similar to oldenlandiae, except that the lines that come out white are different. Hind wing with the base and anal angle bright pink; disk blackish; the outer area ochreous brown, with a black submarginal line and the nervules between it and the cell black. Larva brown; a series of whitish ocelli with darker centers from 4th to 10th somites; horn and underside white.
— The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I[2]
Biology edit
Larva edit
Larvae may be green, yellowish green or even brown. They have a dark broken mid-dorsal line and a creamy dorso-lateral line from the fifth segment to the horn. The head is round, and usually a dull green colour. The larva has a horn which is usually long and straight. There is a large yellow and green eyespot on the third segment and a smaller one on the fourth segment.
Larvae typically feed on the leaves of plants such as the grape vine, Cissus, Impatiens and the Arum lily.
References edit
- ^ Fauna Europaea
- ^ Hampson, G. F. (1892). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Moths Volume I. Taylor and Francis – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Pinhey, E. (1962): Hawk Moths of Central and Southern Africa. Longmans Southern Africa, Cape Town.
External links edit
- Silver-striped Hawk-moth at UKMoths
- Pittaway, A. R. (2018). "Hippotion celerio (Linnaeus, 1758)". Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- Lepiforum e.V.
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