Edit page | Page history | Printable version

Hawk moth

(Science: zoology) Any moth of the family Sphingidae, of which there are numerous genera and species.

They are large, handsome moths, which fly mostly at twilight and hover about flowers like a humming bird, sucking the honey by means of a long, slender proboscis. The larvae are large, hairless caterpillars ornamented with green and other bright colours, and often with a caudal spine.

The larvae of several species of hawk moths feed on grapevines. The elm-tree hawk moth is Ceratomia Amyntor.

See: sphinx, tobacco worm, tomato worm, tobacco hawk moth (Macrosila Carolina).