Phil Bendle Collection:Hippotion celerio (Vine hawk moth)

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Sphingidae
Genus: Hippotion
Species: H. celerio
Binomial name: Hippotion celerio
Common names: Vine hawk moth, Grapevine Hawk Moth, Silver striped hawk-moth, Taro hawkmoth

Hippotion celerio is a hawk moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found in Africa and central and southern Asia of India, Sri Lanka and, as a migrant in southern Europe, Australia and New Zealand.. The moth is an irregular migrant to New Zealand. Hippotion celerio is a brown moth with greyish striped markings, long narrow forewings and shorter hindwings. There is a prominent silvery band curving along centre of the forewing from the body to the wing tip. The hind wing has pinkish area near the base where it adjoins the body. The cylindrical abdomen tapers to a point. It has a wingspan of >8 cm. It has a long tongue, with which it can suck nectar from flowers while hovering in front of them.

The moth below was found dead on the bridge of a charter vessel anchored at the Poor Knight Island, Northland, New Zealand 12/07/1999.

 

The underside.

The hind wing has pinkish area near the base where it adjoins the body. 

Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ 

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