Elephant hawk-moth
The elephant hawk-moth is a beautiful moth coloured olive green and bright pink. It flies at night and hovers in front of flowers like a hummingbird while it drinks. Its big grey caterpillar looks a bit like an elephant's trunk, and that is how it got its name.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It can see colours even in the dark. It was one of the first animals found to do this.
While it hovers and drinks, it also carries pollen from flower to flower, which helps plants make seeds.
Its caterpillar can grow up to about 7.5 centimetres long and has a little horn on its tail end.
It spends the winter as a pupa hidden in plant bits or under the ground.
It looks a lot like its cousin, the small elephant hawk-moth, but only the big one has a thick pink stripe down its body.
Most asked questions about Elephant hawk-moth
?Is the elephant hawk-moth caterpillar dangerous?
No. It looks big and a bit scary, but it is completely harmless.
?Why is it called an elephant hawk-moth?
Because its caterpillar looks like an elephant's trunk.
?What does the elephant hawk-moth eat?
The moth drinks nectar at night. The caterpillar eats leaves of willowherb, bedstraw and some garden plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Deilephila elpenor
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Large elephant hawk moth
Where the facts come from
- Deilephila elpenor (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by jean pierre Hamon (14). CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
Atlas moth
Luna moth
Hummingbird hawk-moth
Domestic silk moth
Isabella tiger moth
Polyphemus moth
Spotless ladybird
Bordered mantis
Robust cicada
Nosy pill woodlouse
Long-tailed skipper
Arctic bumblebee