Amur hawk moth

Amur hawk moth , or aspen hawk moth ( Laothoe amurensis ) is a butterfly of the hawk family ( Sphingidae ).

Amur hawk moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animals Type of: Arthropods Class: Insects Squad: Lepidoptera Family: Hawk moths Subfamily: Smerinthinae Rod: Laothoe View: Amur hawk moth
Latin name
Laothoe amurensis ( Stdgr. , 1892)

Wingspan 75-95 mm. The wings are dark, purple-gray with transverse black-gray wavy bands and lines, the outer edge of the wings is notched; chest and abdomen dark gray, densely and gently pubescent. Butterflies are active after dark. Actively flies to the light, especially males. It develops in one generation, the years of butterflies from the end of May to the middle of July, in the Amur region from the end of May to the middle of August.

The caterpillar is 65–80 mm long. It feeds on aspen , less often on other poplars and willows . The pupa winters in the soil at a depth of 2-3 cm.

This species is found in forest glades and along the shores of lakes teeming with aspen, as well as in mixed and deciduous old forests with a high level of humidity. In the European part of Russia it is very local and rare, in the south of Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russia it is a common species that is found everywhere.

Distribution: the north and middle belt of the European part of Russia, the southern part of Siberia, the south of the Far East, Northeast China, Korea, Japan, the east of Western Europe.