Species Details

ABH: 69.014

BF: 1987

Family: Sphingidae

Subfamily: Macroglossinae

Taxon: Hyles gallii

Authority: (Rottemburg, 1775)

Vernacular: Bedstraw Hawk-moth

Account: Immigrant from southern Europe, appearing almost anywhere in Britain, but mostly in the south and east, in some years arriving in sufficient numbers to breed and perhaps now established in East Anglia. There are scattered records throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, with the most northerly being one at Sherborne St John in August 2003. Wingspan 64-78 mm. The most likely confusion species is Spurge Hawk-moth H. euphorbiae, which see for differences. Larva feeds on Wild Madder, Rosebay Willowherb and various species of bedstraw, perhaps unable to survive cold winters in the United Kingdom.

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: 64 — 78 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 30 May (1956) — 10 Sep (1857)

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., Vitis sp.

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

Status: Vulnerable (VU)

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 2 — Care needed to identify, an image may be required 🤔
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/hyles-gallii/
Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 17

Individuals: 16

Earliest Year: 1857

Latest Year: 1989

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