Page 452 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Sphingidae
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION North America, Europe, central Asia, the Himalayas, and Japan
DIS
DISTRIBUTION
HABIT
HABITAT T Meadows, forest edges, parks, and gardens
HABITAT
A
HOST PLANTS
HOS
HOST PLANTS S Bedstraw (Galium spp.) and Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium)
T PLANT
NO
NOTE Red-horned caterpillar whose other coloring may vary
TE
NOTE
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but not threatened
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERV
T
TION S
A
TUS
A
ADULT WINGSPAN
2 –3½ in (65–90 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
3–3⅜ in (75–85 mm)
HYLES GALLII
BEDSTRAW HAWKMOTH
450
(ROTTEMBURG, 1775)
The Bedstraw Hawkmoth female lays her small, almost round,
blue-green eggs singly on the upper side of leaves and owers,

laying up to ve eggs per plant. The newly hatched caterpillar is
green with yellow lines and darkens with age. The eyespots and

red horn help to scare o predators. The caterpillars feed day
and night and, at rest, they can be found lying along the midrib
on the underside of a leaf. The older caterpillars crawl down the
plant during the day and return at night to feed.

The caterpillar pupates in leaf litter, where it spends the
winter. The pupa is light brown and wrapped in a loosely spun,
silken net, and the adult emerges in spring. Occasionally, there
may be a second generation from adults that emerge early. The
species is named for the caterpillar’s favorite food, bedstraw
The Bedstraw Hawkmoth caterpillar varies in plants, although it will feed on other host plants.
color from olive brown to black. There are a row
of startling, yellow eyespots along the dorsal
surface, with tiny, yellow eyespots on the sides,
and a short, red horn. The underside is pink in
all color forms.

Actual size