Deilephila porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758)


Deilephila porcellus: Male (eastern Swabian Alb, Gerstetten, mid-June 2013). The freshly emerged adults are regularly seen e.g. in limestone grasslands. [N] Deilephila porcellus: Male (eastern Swabian Alb, Gerstetten, mid-June 2013). The freshly emerged adults are regularly seen e.g. in limestone grasslands. [M] Deilephila porcellus: Male (eastern Swabian Alb, Gerstetten, mid-June 2013). The freshly emerged adults are regularly seen e.g. in limestone grasslands. [N] Deilephila porcellus: Male drying its wings (eastern Swabian Alb, mid-June 2013) [N] Deilephila porcellus: Adult (S-Germany, Illerbeuren near Memmingen, June 2014) [N] Deilephila porcellus: Adult (S-Germany, Illerbeuren near Memmingen, June 2014) [N] Deilephila porcellus: Adult (S-Germany, Illerbeuren near Memmingen, June 2014) [N] Deilephila porcellus: Adult (S-Germany, Illerbeuren near Memmingen, June 2014) [N] Deilephila porcellus: Female (eastern Swabian Alb) [N] Deilephila porcellus: Egg (S-Germany, Illerbeuren near Memmingen, June 2014) [N] Deilephila porcellus: L1 larva (e.o. Illerbeuren near Memmingen 2014) [S] Deilephila porcellus: L1 larva (e.o. Illerbeuren near Memmingen 2014) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (e.o. Illerbeuren near Memmingen 2014) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Half-grown larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Half-grown larva (N-Greece, Vitsi, late June 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Young larva [S] Deilephila porcellus: Half-grown larva [S] Deilephila porcellus: In the penultimate instar the larvae can still be green or already brown as here (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: In the penultimate instar the larvae can still be green or already brown as here (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: In the last instar almost all larvae are brown (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (Schwäbisch Gmünd, September 2012) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (Schwäbisch Gmünd, September 2012) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Larva cranial (Schwäbisch Gmünd 2012) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Larva cranial (Schwäbisch Gmünd 2012) [M] Deilephila porcellus: Larva (e.l. Vitsi 2013) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Larva caudal.Remnant of the horn is only a small white plate in this species. [M] Deilephila porcellus: Larva caudal [S] Deilephila porcellus: Pupa (e.l. Schwäbisch Gmünd 2012) [S] Deilephila porcellus: Habitat on the eastern Swabian Alb (Germany, 2006). The species is quite common in limestone grasslands. [N] Deilephila porcellus: Larval habitat in N-Greece (Vitsi, late June 2013) [N]

Host plants:
The caterpillars feed on Galium species, especially Galium verum and Galium album (G. mollugo agg.). This species does hardly oviposit on Epilobium or other plants which stands in contrast to Deilephila elpenor.

Habitat:
Deilephila porcellus occurs in nutrient-poor grasslands of all kinds, road side verges, pastures, not too wet fens, embankments and formerly also in meager agricultural meadows (which have now almost disappeared). The larva can also be observed in nature gardens, but much rarer than Deilephila elpenor.

Life cycle:
The moth is on the wing in one or, more rarely, two generations between May and August. The pupa overwinters. I found caterpillars from June to September. In the last instar the brown larvae live quite hidden at daytime. Freshly emerged adults can be observed regularly in grasslands from May to July.

Endangerment factors:
In areas without large nutrient-poor grasslands this species is endangered due to intensification in agricultural meadows and excessive exploitation of even smallest remaining areas.

Remarks:
Deilephila porcellus is distributed from Northwest Africa across large parts of Europe (except Central and Northern Scandinavia) to China.



Deilephila elpenor