Western Australia MothsWA Moth Index Abantiades hydrographus Anomis definata Ardices glatignyi Austropaschia porrigens Ctenoplusia albostriata Hestiochora occidentalis Hippotion celerio (Vine Hawk Moth) Hippotion scrofa (Coprosma Hawk Moth) Myrtartona rufiventris Synemon spp
Hippotion scrofa is a fairly common moth across mainland Australia (especially on the eastern to south-eastern side of the continent) and Tasmania, with observations also on the western and central region of Australia
They are commonly known as Coprosma Hawk Moth and Scrofa Hawk Moth. This Hawk Moth is agile and built for speed when flying. With a smooth tapered body and powerful flight muscles, they can also be seen hovering. They have a pair of relatively narrow long forewings and small hind wings. The moth has a broad hairy brown body, brown fore wings, red hind wings with black margin. When at rest, the hind wings are usually hidden. The wingspan is up to 7 cm. They are usually seen at dusk and night. The adult moths feed on nectar by hovering over the flower.
The Hippotion scrofa larvae are brown with broken yellow lines. It has eye spots that decrease in size along the length of the body and a short straight pale-tipped dark horn near its tail.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Unranked: Ditrysia
- Superfamily: Sphingoidea
- Family: Sphingidae
- Subfamily: Macroglossinae
- Genus: Hippotion
- Species: Hippotion scrofa
Footnote & References
- Hippotion scrofa (Coprosma Hawk Moth), Photographs © Jean and Fred Hort
- Photographs © Paul Kay
- Hippotion scrofa (Boisduval, 1832), Scrofa Hawk Moth, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/f941d4ec-007c-4c73-8952-994801e178e2
Western Australia MothsWA Moth Index Abantiades hydrographus Anomis definata Ardices glatignyi Austropaschia porrigens Ctenoplusia albostriata Hestiochora occidentalis Hippotion celerio (Vine Hawk Moth) Hippotion scrofa (Coprosma Hawk Moth) Myrtartona rufiventris Synemon spp
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