Species Details

ABH: 69.016

BF: 1991

Family: Sphingidae

Subfamily: Macroglossinae

Taxon: Deilephila elpenor

Authority: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Vernacular: Elephant Hawk-moth

Account: Common in hedgerows, gardens, woodland edges and heathland, and on rough grassland and sand-dunes throughout England, Wales and southern Scotland. Widely distributed and occasionally abundant throughout Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 62-72 mm. Small Elephant Hawk-moth D. porcellus is superficially similar, but smaller, with forewing yellow and pink, not olive-green and pink. Larva feeds on Rosebay Willowherb, Great Willowherb, Lady's Bedstraw, Hedge Bedstraw, Heath Bedstraw and Marsh Bedstraw, over-wintering as a pupa.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 62 — 72 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 12 May (1990) — 4 Sep (2023)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant: Epilobium sp. (a willowherb), Fuchsia sp., Galium sp., Impatiens sp.

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Least Concern (LC)

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 1 — Relatively easily identified 👌

Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/deilephila-elpenor/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 1042

Individuals: 415

Earliest Year: 1840

Latest Year: 2025

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