Oleander hawk-moth
The oleander hawk-moth is a big, beautiful moth in camouflage green, with swirls of white, pink and purple on its wings. It flies at dusk and hovers over sweet-smelling flowers. Its fat caterpillar has big blue and white eyespots near its head.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The caterpillars eat oleander, a very poisonous plant, without getting sick.
Big caterpillars grow to about 8 centimetres long and have a yellow horn at the back.
It is a long-distance traveller and has even reached Scotland and Finland.
In England a milkman found one of its caterpillars in 1885.
Baby caterpillars are bright yellow, then turn green or brown as they grow.
Most asked questions about Oleander hawk-moth
?What do oleander hawk-moth caterpillars eat?
Mainly oleander leaves, which are poisonous, and other plants of the same family.
?When does the oleander hawk-moth fly?
Mostly at twilight, after the sun goes down, when it visits flowers.
?Is the oleander hawk-moth caterpillar dangerous?
No. The eyespots and horn look scary, but it is harmless.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Daphnis nerii
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Sphingidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Sphingidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Europe
- Also known as
- Army green moth
Where the facts come from
- Daphnis nerii (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 Shantanu Kuveskar. 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.
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